Babylon
by PricelessVause
Summary: 24 year old Piper Chapman has just accepted a job as a guidance counselor at Litchfield High School, where an 18 year old delinquent named Alex Vause is stirring up all types of trouble. Will Piper be able to whip Alex into shape? Or will she just get whipped? AU fic. Rated M for language, violence and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

**Ayyeee. It's me again. I wrote a new thing. **

**The title of the story is derived from the song Babylon by SZA which you can give a listen to...It's very emotive and when I was listening to it one day it dropped this story into my lap for Alex and Piper. But mostly, Alex. That being said, this story will be a little Piper centric at first but not for very long. **

**Also, this is an AU fic in that Piper is the older one at age 24 and Alex is 18 and they are not in Litchfield prison, they are at Litchfield High. **

**The only reason I'm saying that again is because this causes their personalities to be a **_**little**_ **OOC from the canon. Piper never met Alex after college and had that experience, so she's how I think Piper would have been without it. Also, Alex is only 18 so she isn't nearly as cool calm and collected as she is in her mid 20's/early 30's and so she may come off as a bit of a hothead and not as calculated and unflappable as we generally like her to be.**

**But parts of her story from the canon remain the same, as with Piper, so they are **_**generally**_ **the same. **

**Anyway, I'm done with this long ass intro. So. Here we go.**

**Babylon.**

**[Neutral POV]**

"Aw, you drank all the soda..." Piper said as she shook the cup in her hand.

"Not necessarily, I mean, you _could_ suck the rest off of the ice cubes."

The woman glared at the man sitting next to her before tossing a handful of popcorn at him. His eyes glinted playfully as he picked up one of the yellow projectiles and popped it into his mouth. Even as she rolled her eyes, Piper couldn't help but smile at him as the two of them sat on the hard metal benches of the Litchfield High School baseball stadium. It had been a long time since she'd found herself surrounded by this many people, all chattering and laughing and yelling and eating as they watched abnormally large adolescents compete with each other. The feeling of school spirit and parental pride was thick in the air, and although she practically hated baseball itself, the infectious vibe had her cheering and clapping as another Litchfield Lion rounded the bases.

She glanced at her companion who was standing up, hooting down at the field and nudging the guy standing next to him. A little smile crept onto her face as she looked at the handsome man. His usually well groomed brown hair, was unkempt and askew underneath a baseball hat that he kept putting on and yanking off, his amber eyes sparkling in amusement. He looked down at her in that moment and grinned. She had been reluctant to come at first but was glad that she had as she watched him, almost vibrating with excitement. It had been a while since he had been able to relax since his sales company was in a big push period and she was glad to be able to spend this moment with him. He sat down next to her as the excitement died down a bit and Piper's hand gently reached out toward him, landing on his knee.

"I'm really glad you forced me to come out here." She smirked.

"I'm really glad you're easy to lift."

Piper quirked up an eyebrow at him. "That may be true...but don't make a habit out of throwing me over your shoulder and toting me off when I tell you I don't want to do something. It's cute the first few times but eventually someone might report you for kidnapping."

"Who? You?"

Piper smiled. "I don't know. Could be. It could also be the creepy neighbor guy."

"Psh. He'd be more likely to kidnap you himself." He intoned lowly, the expression on his face displaying that he really wouldn't have been surprised if he did.

"Well." She gave his knee a squeeze. "Don't give him any ideas."

They watched the game in silence for a moment before he spoke up.

"So...are you getting excited about your new job yet?"

The blonde woman frowned a little as she looked away from him. "I mean...I guess."

She considered the teenagers mingled in with the crowd and down on the field cheering and playing. About a week ago, she had applied for a job as a guidance counselor at Litchfield. Her first choice had actually been Thornforest Academy which was more like the private high school she herself had gone to 8 or so years ago. Having rejected her under the premise that they were looking for someone with a bit more experience, and by a bit more they could have meant literally _any_ experience. Sure Piper had graduated Summa cum Laude with a degree in Psych and spent several months teaching kids in Martinique but that apparently didn't translate to actual counseling experience. And so, with a heavy heart, she had applied for the position available with the public school down the hill and gotten it without very much resistance. And for a day or so, she had been excited about it, just the same. But then she'd realized that she was going to be a _guidance counselor _at a _public school_.

She knew from experience and from television that there were only 3 types of kids that frequented the GC office. The first kind were overzealous overachievers who were vying for scholarships and the Ivy League. Which she was okay with. The second kind were kids who had no one else to talk to about some terrible life circumstance. And she was okay with that too. But the third and last kind? Juvenile delinquents. It hadn't been until her eyes had chanced to skim over a list of the top 10 troublemakers that was posted in the teacher's lounge that that had occurred to her. The kids pictured had been mostly scary looking with a few exceptions, but if Ted Bundy was any inclination, being scary looking was not a necessary part of being a psychopath.

"Hey," the brunette man reached out and stroked her back. "You're gonna be fine." He gestured over the crowd with his other hand. "They're just kids, P."

"I know." Her brows were still furrowed letting him know that he hadn't done much to assuage her concerns. His hand slipped up from her the small of her back to the back of her neck and he pulled her gently towards him, kissing her forehead. She let out a quiet little sigh before she buried her forehead into the crook of his neck.

"You'll do great. You always do great." He pressed another kiss into her temple. "And if something happens with one of them just _promise_ you'll bring the shovel and help me bury the body after I kill them and I _promise_ I'll help you out."

She couldn't help but let out a little snort of a laugh as she leaned back to look him in the eyes. He was gazing back at her lovingly as he stroked her hair back out of her face.

"I love you, Darren."

The man's smile grew and he kissed her forehead again. "You too, P."

They continued looking at each other for a moment before Darren leaned in abruptly and kissed his fiancee soundly on the mouth.

"Hey! Don't even think about doing that out here!" The two snapped their heads towards a woman decked out entirely in yellow and black who had her arms crossed over the number 56. _Clearly_ a parent of one of the players.

Piper blushed a bit before pulling away from the man who was still staring at the woman who had an eyebrow raised at him, daring him to protest. Silently, he turned back to the blonde haired woman who quickly pecked him on the cheek.

"It's alright. I have to go to the restroom anyway."

"Okay," he said with a small smile before returning his attention to the game, shooting his arms up at the events taking place down on the field. Piper rolled her eyes as she started up the stairs towards the restrooms near the concession stand. Next time, they were definitely going to have to sit closer to the top.

As she neared the bathroom door, it suddenly burst open, as a tall black haired alternative looking girl hastily strutted out with her phone in her hands, plowing into Piper who landed on her ass.

"_Shit._" The girl hissed as she slid her glasses to the top of her head to hold her hair back and bent down to pick up her phone. It's plastic backing and battery had popped out and she had one hand on the glasses atop her head to keep them from falling off as the other scooped up the pieces. Piper saw the battery by her foot and reached for it at the same time as the younger woman did, causing a pale hand to slide over her own as she clutched it. Pale green eyes ringed with blue snapped up into her own quickly scanning her face almost as if she couldn't see her before she overturned her palm. A pregnant moment passed between them as an apology tried to force itself out of Piper's mouth.

"Gimme."

Piper dumbly nodded and pressed the battery into the outstretched hand which then grabbed her and suddenly snatched her up into a standing position in front of the tall person who caught her and shook her slightly. She narrowed her eyes into a squint before breathing out, "Watch where you're going." The shorter blonde woman nodded hesitantly with wide eyes as the green eyed girl released her firm grip on Piper and darted off towards the exit furthest from the main gate. Piper's let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding as she looked at the retreating figure.

All the blood drained from her face as recognition slowly dawned on her.

That girl was on the troublemaker list. And if Piper remembered correctly...she was number _two_.

Piper had forgotten all about having to use the bathroom until that moment and hurriedly pushed the door open, feeling as if the wind had gotten knocked out of her.

As she looked in the mirror as she washed her hands her mind raced with concerns. _Would the girl remember her if she came into the office? Would she hold a grudge? What was she number two for? Was it for beating the crap out of someone for breaking something that belonged to her?_

The woman was startled out of her thoughts as the door opened up again, though only revealing a woman and her two little daughters as they shuffle into the bathroom. She let out a sigh as she quickly went to exit and get back to the reassuring embrace of her fiancé.

As she opened the door, it seemed as if the universe had been waiting for her to come out. Rain fell down on her in big heavy droplets as she gingerly, but hastily stepped past the people assembled at the top of the stadium to get back to her seat.

Darren was out of his seat shouting wildly along with the entire stadium as they erupted into celebration. One of the best hitters on the team had just hit a home run with the bases loaded. Piper's words died on her tongue as she turned her attention back down to the field. She was definitely overreacting to the whole situation. Troublemaker or not, she was just a girl and she had just run into her.

It was no big deal.

/

A bit further from the stadium, where remnants of the old softball field lie in ruin, there was the sound of a scuffle coming from within the now roofless old dugout.

A forceful grunt followed by the sound of metal striking bone rang out, muffled by the falling rain and background noise.

Cheers and applause were ringing out from the stadium but it sounded hollow and warped as it rang around the dark figure who lifted the metal baseball bat up again.

She grunted again loudly. The bat made a hollow sound as it cut through the air.

**Crack.**

An agonized shriek followed by the sound of a gasping sob pierced the air.

Her wet hair clung to her cheeks where it had whipped up from her swinging motion. Her clothes were unbuttoned and drenched through. Blood had spattered onto her face and ran down her cheeks along with the mingling of rainwater and angry tears. Her wild eyes darted about as she looked down at the young man who was lying with his back on the ground, pants down to his thighs and underwear riding dangerously low on his hips. His own eyes registered immense fear and agony as he gingerly touched at his kneecap with one hand, the other lying uselessly to the side. Blood thinned by water ran down his face from his purple stained nose and pooled onto the collar of his shirt and dripped onto his midsection.

"...Please..." He uttered shakily as he whimpered. His eyes were wide as he looked at the girl who still held the bat and was fuming. Her chest heaved and her hands shook with anger as she looked down on him in absolute disgust. The green eyes were dark as her gaze hardened and her body stopped shaking. She set her jaw and slowly lifted the bat above her head. This blow would be the last.

"Alex!" The dark haired girl blinked as if she'd been pulled out of a trance and began to turn in the direction of the voice before she was suddenly overcome by strong arms reaching underneath her own and clasping behind her head, effectively putting her in a headlock. She flailed as she was dragged backwards, fearing the worst.

"Calm _down. _It's me, Officer Bennett." She whipped her head up at an awkward to see the man's face as he relaxed his hold on her. He looked very upset.

"I'm sorry, Vause..." He said it lowly as he pressed her gently against the nearest fence and handcuffed her hands behind her back. "This is for your own good."

Another police officer ran up and looked over as Bennett apprehended Alex before rushing over toward the dugout. His face went white as he looked down into it, before pulling out his walkie talkie.

"I need an ambulance and a couple EMT's behind the Litchfield baseball stadium... yeah... Where the old softball field is. We got a kid back here with some serious injuries. None appear to be life threatening but he's not getting outta here without a stretcher.

The young woman just stared out through the holes in the fence, her face blank and even paler than usual. She felt herself beginning to come down from the adrenal high she was on and bit her lip as her eyes stung and her vision became blurry and despite her corrective lenses the stadium lights clouded out of focus. Behind her, she could hear shouting and the shuffling of feet across the grass. She wasn't sure when police sirens had replaced the sound of cheering fans but it was clear that there was no hope of her slinking away into the darkness, away from this situation in an external sense. So... like she had done so many times before, she slipped into her internal darkness... receded inside of herself where no one could hurt her and where her walls were too high and too thick for judgement to come crashing down on her.

She felt herself being roughly pulled back off the fence as another pair of hands grabbed her, and half led and half shoved her towards the parking lot. Towards a growing audience of concerned patrons. A bit of fear threatened to lodge itself in her throat and choke her as she realized what was truly, honest to God happening around her. Several people were rushing past her and her escorts to the dugout, shouting and clambering. Which reminded her...

Her eyes quickly scanned the area for the owner of the voice that had called out to her earlier. On the other side of the fence she finally locked onto the panicked face of her best friend, who stood there, holding onto the thin metal separating them. Alex took a deep breath and inclined her head, peering into her eyes as she passed by the wild haired red head. This seemed to relax the shorter woman some, as some color began to return to her face.

_Get out of here._

Alex had mouthed it before nodding towards the street. The girl shook her head defiantly.

_Now, Nicky!_

Alex was having to crane her neck backwards to see her now, as the two policemen continue to urge her on, and before she could see if Nicky had done as she asked she was out of her sight.

She took another deep breath as the parking lot came into view. So many faces latched onto her with a myriad of expressions.

Shock. Concern. Disgust. Fear. Confusion.

But at this point Alex was immune to them all. She swallowed down the last bits of apprehension and slipped into a crooked smile.

/

Piper was frowning as she felt apprehension slowly building a knot in her stomach. The game had ended 15 minutes ago but people were still bustling about toward one end of the parking lot. The end that she and her fiancé had unwittingly parked in. Police sirens cut through the air as she absently bit at the hot dog in her hand, her face settled into a soft, doe eyed sort of fearful. Her eyes flicked up at Darren who was leading them unhurriedly through the crowd, tilting his head up every now and then curiously.

"Can you tell what happened yet?" Piper stage whispered as she side-eyed Darren.

"Nah..." His voice trailed off as he rose to his up on his tippy toes to see above the other curious patrons.

"Do you think someone got murdered?" Blue eyes widened as Piper's head whipped toward the direction the question had come from. It was a couple of women in Lions t-shirts talking animatedly to each other.

"Well, I mean... it wouldn't be the first time." Piper's eyes widened as the other woman gasped.

"No!"

"Yes. Something like this happened 3 years ago. They tried to cover it up some, but one of the Parkerson's kids was murdered. Apparently over drugs or something, I don't know."

"That's awful... I bet things like that don't happen at Thornforest...Maybe I should see if my Toby can get in..."

Piper's eyes somehow grew wider as she slowly turned her head towards her fiancé.

"Darren!" She whispers harshly.

The man is practically bouncing as he attempts to see over the crowd.

"Huh"

She snakes her hand out of his and smacks him in the chest with it, effectively getting his attention.

"What, hun?"

"Did you _hear_ that?!"

"Hear _what_?" He frowns down at her, his eyebrows meeting above his eyes in confusion. "Gunshots?"

"No! It's _worse._"

She turns to face him but is graced with the sight of his profile as he has turned back toward the front of the fray. Piper huffs and is about to attempt to get his attention again, but glances in the direction he's staring off into before double taking.

The crowd is being pushed back by a queer mix of police, security guards, and school faculty members as a lone individual is escorted to an awaiting squad car.

Murmurs and gasps float through the masses anew as the handcuffed girl comes into focus. Piper gapes, her hot dog dropping soundlessly onto the pavement as the she subconsciously moves behind her fiancé.

"Shit." Darren's eyebrows rise high on his forehead and he blinks out his surprise. Piper just panics wordlessly and tightens her grip on his arm.

It's the girl from before. That she had knocked into.

In the back of Piper's mind she could hear the two women start to talking again beside her but it was only background noise. No rumor could rival the horror of her current reality. The reality that was somehow strutting across the parking lot despite being held by two police officers.

Her feet walked with confidence and assurance and an almost smug smile graced her features. Her blood stained, make up smeared features. A bruise was forming on the side of her head as well a another on her arm. The shirt she was wearing was torn on one shoulder, the same arm as the bruise, and the leather jacket she had been wearing was nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, a fresh hole had been torn into the knee of her grass stained jeans, a pink bloodstain marring the fabric. And she was strutting. And she was _smiling. _

It was beautiful and deadly.

And it scared Piper absolutely _shitless._

_/_

**[**_**3 days later...**_**]**

"Piper."

"Polly."

Silenced ensued as the blonde woman bit her lip, waiting for her friend to say something.

A sigh crackles loudly into the phone's speaker and Piper looks nervously out of her car window.

It is 3:25 pm, just minutes before she is supposed to be inside of Litchfield High School, in what will soon be _her_ office, with Mr. Healy and a student. Currently, she is parked in front of the main building, waiting on her best friend Polly to give her one good reason not to start up her car and drive back to her house.

True enough, she might have to go elsewhere since her fiancé had all but tossed her and her things out and locked the door behind her when she had nearly called in to quit the job entirely.

"You're being a pussy and it's not even cute."

"That's not a real reason, Polly."

"And neither is your irrational fear that some tall chick is gonna beat the shit out of you, even though she has probably been arrested and detained."

"..."

"She's probably got bigger and butcher fish to fry now, Piper."

"You really don't think she'll show?"

"...I'm saying I highly doubt it... What did Big Daddy D have to say about it?"

Piper rolled her eyes at the nickname Polly had given Darren. It was the result of a terribly embarrassing story Darren had told on a double date they had been on with Polly and her boyfriend Pete. She would never live it down.

"_Darren _said I was probably overreacting...and that just because she might be a murderer, didn't mean she was a psycho."

There was a snort on the other end. "That's true. And she didn't even kill that other kid, right?"

"Well... no."

"See." It was said flatly, more a statement than a question.

"Oh, yeah, she just beat him within an inch of his life! No big deal!"

"Piper..."

"_Polly."_

Just then, the sound of a motorcycle kicks up in the background, whizzing behind the cars of the parking lot until it reaches a spot on a patch of grass a couple spaces away from Piper's. It was neither a motorcycle or a student parking space but it was clear that a student had just parked in it from the backpack thrown over their shoulder.

"Hold on a sec, Pol." Piper lowered the phone from her ear as she looked over. There was a _bad _feeling creeping into her stomach.

"I actually have a job too, y'know, but whatever."

The person pulled one leg back from over the seat in order to stand and took a few brisk steps in burgundy Doc Martens; long legs snugly encased in dark wash jeans making quick work of the parking lot towards the school. Then the person was pulling off the helmet they were wearing, releasing long black hair, streaked with blue.

Piper felt her jaw go slack.

"You still there, asshole?"

The flustered woman attempted to speak several times before she was actually successful.

"_She's __**here**_." Piper hissed into the telephone, sinking into her seat as if she'd been tranquilized.

"Who?"

"Oh, just fucking Margaret Thatcher former prime minister of -_Who the hell do you think is here_?"

"Well, for the record, I don't know who the hell that first person was either, but I'm going to assume that you're trying to tell me that the _she_ you're referring to is tall, dark, and handsy."

"Duh, Polly..wait, handsy?"

"Um, yeah, from what you said happened when she ran into you, it sounds like she was a step away from feeling you up. And she might've if she hadn't been preoccupied with beating the shit out of that kid with a baseball bat."

Piper exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Well, I've figured out one thing."

"Which is?"

"That I'm definitely not going in there."

"_Piper_!"

"Polly."

"Isn't there a chance that she'll get stuck with that other counselor? The one you said looked like a rapist? Capisci...Cappuchino...

"Mr. Caputo?"

"Yeah, that guy! Since he's probably got more experience, you can pretty much assume that he'll get stuck with her. Right?"

"I guess.." Piper murmurs as she looks out at the school's entrance door again.

"Look, hun-" Polly pauses there before there's a rustling sound on her end, followed by some muffled arguing. "Yes, yes, I _am_ working!" Rings clearly and Piper knows that her friend's boss must have realized that Polly was doing more talking on the phone than anything, and that their time on the phone is over.

"Sorry, sweetie, I gotta go. Apparently helping a friend through a traumatic life experience is _frowned upon in this establishment." _

Piper groans. "Why are you always working when I need you?"

"Why do you always need me when I'm working?"

"Ugh."

"Man the fuck up and walk in there, okay? Then call me and tell me how it goes."

"Fine."

"Love you, bitch."

Piper's eyes roll but she smiles a little at her friend. "That's not a term of endearment."

"That's because there's nothing endearing about you. Now say it back so I can hang up."

"...Love you too, Pol."

/

**[Neutral POV]**

_I can't recall the last time I took advice from anyone that was shaped like a figure 8_

_Who trusts pretty girls anyway?_

_And I can't recall the last time I took advice from anyone_

_...I'm sure that'd be the death of me._

_And I can't recall the last time I took love from anyone that I called daddy_

_Who's got one anyway?_

_Not me._

_...Are you hating yourself?_

"Alex." A hand reaches out and touches her shoulder as she leaned her head back onto the wall. Uncrossing her legs slowly, she sat upright, rubbing her eyes. Her face contorted into a slight grimace as she reached up and gingerly pulled one of her earbuds out, the corner of her lips twitching downward as the too loud music seemed to spill of her ears and out into the too empty white hallway.

"My turn?" Her eyes darted up into the face of the 40 something year old red head whose arms were now crossed in front of her.

She pursed her lips and jerked her head noncommittally in the direction of the office.

"Oh, goody." Black hair mingled with electric blue streaks draped down, masking Alex's expression as she looked down at her phone and paused the song and pocketed the device. She ran a hand through her hair before pushing herself up to a standing position suddenly, causing the woman in front of her to step back quickly and step to the side. Green eyes followed the woman's movements as a humorless smirk slowly crept onto pink lips. She gestured dramatically in her direction.

"A pleasure as always, Wanda."

**[Alex]**

My head throbs as I massage my temples which does more to display my annoyance than to assuage the sharp pain shooting through my skull. I let my eyes wander around the room. The same cherry finished wooden bookshelves were on both sides with texts on a variety of subjects mostly on education and on the juvenile psyche. There is something about looking at a vast assortment of books that I love almost as much as reading in itself.

"Alex?" I lazily return my gaze forward until I'm looking into the face of my guidance counselor, Mr. Healy. The look on his chubby, drooping face is a terrible attempt at empathy that might have been believable if I was actually, literally retarded. I know apathy when I see it. I have my Master's in apathy with a minor in not giving a fuck. Not a single fuck.

"Hmm?" I incline my head at him, mimicking his expression with an exaggerated pout. My eyes flick over to the clock momentarily before locking back onto him. It's 3:45. And I'm ready to haul ass out of here. My eyes drop back to him when he sighs and licks his fingertip before fingering through my file.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

I have to bite back a laugh as I screw up my face and shrug. "Nah, I'm good." Leaning back in my chair, I scrutinize him with my face in my hand, waiting for him to start like he always does. '_Well I guess we could start with...'_

He shuffles a couple of papers to the front and then taps the lot of them on his desk. "Well, I guess we could start with your most recent exploit."

"Oh yes." I kick one leg over the other and slide my glasses up onto my forehead. "That one's a personal favorite."

I can see a flash of agitation as he pauses his movements and stares blankly at my response. One day, I swear I'm gonna get him to crack and call me out for being a little shit. One day, very soon. A day like today. I try to make it my goal to get each of my counselors to lay into me for being rude before they float off into the wind. For the record, I have never failed to do so.

He presses his granny glasses up on his nose and holds the paper away from him. Must suck to be farsighted.

"You seriously injured John Peterson...and..." He squints. "It says here that you are facing charges on possession with intent to sell." Mr. Healy scratches his head of rapidly greying hair and lets the file plop heavily on the desk. He's gaping at me incredulously. That facial expression is too fantastically hilarious to be faked. Oh, how I wish I could capture this moment.

"I know, right?" I place my hands behind my head and let a wide grin spread across my face. "I really outdid myself." The pictures of my handiwork are now splayed across the desk. I can't help but to lean forward and finger one of the glossy images before smiling up at him. "Have you seen these?" He doesn't answer. "Really nice camera work. They really capture the essence of my violent act." My chest starts to feel tight looking at them so I collect them all and place them face down and slide them towards the flabbergasted man.

He fidgets in his chair a bit. God he's so close to cracking I can feel it. This is why I love playing the long game. It takes a hell of a lot longer than just taking your hands and fucking people up, but for the most part, it's so much more satisfying. Delayed gratification, if you will.

It also keeps my hands clean.

"You could pretend to feel a bit of remorse."

I raise my eyebrows as far as they will physically go and clutch the arms of the leather chair I'm sitting in, my nails digging into it's upholstery. Now I'm the one who's speechless.

"Appreciate the fact that you narrowly avoided getting sent straight to jail with your track record. Are you forgetting you're no longer a minor? You're walking on thin ice here! Take something seriously for once! You're already being held back a year for missing so much school! What do you think is going to happen if you go to prison? You'll never make anything of yourself. Don't you want to get a respectable job and help your mother?"

"I _already_ help her. And I'm going to make it just fine without finishing at this fucking shithole school." Fuck if I've learned anything here that I couldn't have taught myself. "Why don't you get to the real reason why you want me to stay here and finish, huh? Because you would miss our little chats."

He pinches the bridge of his nose. I hate when he does that. "Speaking of which...Alex, I'm leaving. Tomorrow is my last day, okay? After that I'm going to be replaced by a very nice lady." His eyes shoot up and his voice has gone soft.

I feel myself cringing. Not because I'm going to miss him. But because I hate being spoken to in that tone by people flaking out of my life. Especially therapist types. I've gotten a new one every year or so and they all seem to have this idea that just because I'm the stereotypical daddy issues having delinquent that I'm gonna take it personally when they fuck off. I don't take the shit personal and I'm sure as hell not gonna miss them! Its so fucking patronizing. But I guess I will miss the level of comfort I have with Mr. H. We have an understanding. He pretends to care about my life without actually asking me anything about it and I pretend like I don't care about anything. We fall easily into the broken system and that's how I like it. This new bitch is gonna want to actually talk about my _feelings_ and my _future plans _and shit, and I don't have time. It's okay though. I'll break her. I always do.

"No one could ever replace _you, _man_."_ He rolls his eyes at me but I can see he's a bit flustered which makes me smile. I clear my throat and find myself shifting in my chair. _".._Is that the worst news I'm going to receive from you today?" It's his turn to smirk at the hopefulness in my voice. God he's such a passive aggressive bitch.

"No. You've got morning detention and after school janitorial duties for the rest of the semester. Also you'll have to meet with the new counselor regularly."

I frown. "How regularly are we talking? Monthly? Bi-weekly? "

"Daily. Oh, and your first full day of school will be tomorrow."

_Shit_.

"What about Peterson? What's he getting?"

He sighs and twiddles his thumbs. "Don't you think he's been through enough?"

I just stare at him. He cannot actually be serious. My eyes narrow at him as I place my hand over my mouth for a moment in contemplation. "You're fucking shitting me."

At that he recoils and finally lets a deep frown set in. "Language! Please try to act like a lady!"

Deep pressure begins to build up in my head as I feel fire burning behind my eyes, sinking down into my throat and settling into my chest. "Me? Control _myself?_" I'm standing before I realize it. "And to answer your question, no, I fucking don't think he's been through enough. Not even close," I stiffen as I feel myself beginning to crack. It jars me enough to cause my anger to subside just a hair. Just enough to keep my control from slipping.

"If you acted more lady-like maybe you wouldn't have gotten yourself into that situation."

And that's all it takes. I feel something snap within me and growl as I fly across the desk, beating the shit out of this fat asshole, breaking his granny glasses and hearing him whine like a little bitch beneath me. But then I break out of my violent trance and find that I, though still angry, am just staring at him and he is staring at me with a mildly unimpressed expression and gesturing back towards the seat. My fists clench and unclench as I consider making my violent vision a reality but as my eyes drop to the file on his desk I realize I'm one wrong move away from going back to juvie...well... prison this time I guess and the thought sobers me up enough to kick a small trashcan at the corner of his desk in frustration which ricochets harmlessly into the corner of the room before plopping down heavily into my chair.

"Done?" He asks clasping his hands together in front of him, his tone now thickly condescending. I know that he thinks I'm acting like a child and I regret giving him the satisfaction of seeing me that way. No more being half assed. Next time I get up to beat someone senseless there's no turning back. Prison be damned. I cross my arms with the thought firmed up in my mind and scowl at him in response. Yes, I prefer to manipulate and systematically break down a person, but more and more lately I'm feeling like I want to just make people hurt.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, what I want to tell you is that you should be happy that the Peterson's are willing to drop the assault charges against you even though you could've ended his football career. But think of yourself on probation. One more infraction here at the school or another run-in with law..." He leans toward me and slides his glasses down. "And your ass is grass, so to speak."

I roll my eyes at whatever the fuck that was supposed to be. "What did you hear that line on tv or something?" He narrows his eyes at me. "You've been waiting for a good time to use that one, huh?" I laugh as he becomes even more agitated. "Next time, maybe work on your delivery."

A couple of his fingers twitch before he suddenly slams a hand down on the desk and slowly parts his lips to speak, "Listen here you little-"

**Knock knock**

Healy's lips stop moving and he freezes as he looks towards the door. I frown and tilt my head back until I can see the door too, albeit upside down.

Ms. Bell, his redheaded and almost equally unpleasant assistant from before opens the door wide enough to stick her head in.

"Aw, c'mon, Wanda! I was this close, _this close_ to getting Mr. H to finally snap! Can't you see we are having a moment?!"

She blinks at me with a blank expression on her face before ignoring me and looking to Healy who's face is probably redder than a baboons ass. "She's here. You wanted her to sit in, right?" I slowly crane my neck up so that I can look at him. She? She who?

The old man narrows his eyes in confusion, and then blinks back slowly before snapping out of his angry trance and rushing to try and make himself and his desk a bit more presentable. Finally, running a hand through his hair, he nods and makes a beckoning motion. I can't help but glare at him in amused disgust after that pathetic little display for _whoever_ she is's sake. He glares back pointedly for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Hi-Hey, um-yes. Come in Ms. Chapman."

I hear the door open a bit wider and the sound of heels clacking onto the wood floor of the office.

"Alex." I feel a smile growing on my face at his attempt to sound as if he's been being polite to me. "This is Ms. Piper Chapman. She'll be sitting in for the rest of our session because she's going to be your new counselor."

My eyebrows raise at the prospect of seeing my new _buddy_so soon and I drop my head back again to look at the stuffy old crone with a smirk on my face. As I look back though, it is most definitely _not_ a stuffy old crone and my calculated smirk immediately falls away as I take her in.

She's got this pretty long blonde hair thats half pulled up and half down and I wish I could see her face right side up cuz from this angle she looks so damn...and her eyes are so... and that tight pencil skirt she's wearing...

Basically, she's just looks _really_ fucking fuckable. Like..._shit. _I try to swallow because I think my mouth is watering and my fingers actually just twitched at the thought of being curled inside her. Her lips part a little as if she's going to speak as she looks from Healy to me and then from me to Healy and back to me. I'm not sure why she's doing that little dance with her eyes but the shock of actually having an attractive counselor has worn off enough for me to think clearly. I raise my eyebrows at her, taking my time as I let my gaze slowly travel up from her legs to her face. Then, I put on my most suggestive of smirks and simply say what's on my mind.

"_Damn_."

/

**[Piper]**

_Damn. DAMN. _

"Damn."

I try to hide the fresh alarm on my face as I look at the dark haired girl in front of me and and back to Mr. Healy. Can she read my mind or something? She's looking at me like she can and she definitely just said what I was thinking. I feel my eyes widen and I'm trying to remain calm, I really am. Of all the people to get assigned to me...out of _all_ of them. The one I _specifically_ pleaded with the universe not to give me is sitting here in what will soon be my office and- and is she _checking me out_?! I feel heat rising to my face as I step all the way into the room and hear the door click behind me. The girl stops leaning back as I walk over to the chair Mr. Healy is patting at the corner of the desk. She gazes at me with what I guess is acknowledgement before smirking more to herself than to me and returning her attention to Mr. Healy. She looks hopelessly bored. Okay, so I was probably being paranoid about her checking me out. She's probably thinking of how to punish me for possibly causing her to crack her screen the other day. I mean what are the odds of her being the number 2 most notorious kid on the principle's list _and _into women, right? Right?

_I mean it is a distinct possibility. She is the criminal type and you know how those types get in prison._

I frown as I mentally berate myself for assuming a stereotype. And at the fact that her being interested in woman seems to unnerve me more than the possibility of her plotting my demise. It is only then that I realize that Mr. Healy is looking at me expectantly. Has he been saying something to me this whole time? I glance at the girl... Alex? She is side-eyeing me with her glasses in her hand as she bites down on one end of them with a slightly amused look on her face. Was she wearing those when I ran into her? And wait, just how long has he been waiting for a response? Say _something,_ Piper!

"I'm sorry, what? I'm a little nervous so I...went blank for a second."

Mr. Healy just nods. "I was just asking you to tell Alex a little about yourself."

I look at the aforementioned girl who's eyebrows have raised even higher if that's possible and her smirk has turned into a full blown grin. That is _really_ unnerving.

"Well like Mr. Healy said, My name is Piper Chapman. I'm 24 years old and I got my degree in Psychology with a minor in sociology at Smith University. Um.. I've only lived in this city for a year or so...and I recently got engaged to my wonderful boyfriend Darren. " I smile at her and she just blinks. "Um... It's nice to meet you...Alex. I look forward to our time together." She takes her glasses out of her mouth now and slides them onto the top of her head and smiles. But it's not a smile that makes me feel better about this situation. It's the type of smile that makes me feel much worse.

_You did just say you were nervous. Out loud. In front of her._

Shit! Isn't that a rule or something? Not to show any fear in front of these types of people?

_She's just a teenager._

A teenager who is legally an adult and taller than me might as well not be one at all as far as I'm concerned.

Mr. Healy sends a pointed look at her. "Anything you want to share about yourself, Ms. Vause?"

She runs a hand through her dark hair, revealing an _almost _unnecessary amount of ear piercings before folding her hands into her lap. "What _would _I like to share?" Her eyes drop to her hands.

"Well, my name is Alex Vause. I am 18 years old, but only until November, thank God. I graduated from the school of hard knocks where I got my degree in beating up bitchass meat heads and minored in petty drug trafficking. ...I've lived in this city my entire life, but I'd get out of here on the next bus if I wasn't on some kind of lame ass probation. Shit, I'd get outta here with a shopping cart and a leaf blower if it was the only way."

I coudn't help but to laugh a little at that. As I did her eyes slowly met mine and she smirked in a way that made my stomach drop into my... _wow that was weird_.

I've literally never felt so off kilter in my entire life. I was less nervous for my job interview at Thornforest than I am right now. I've got to keep it cool though, make it seem like I'm not deathly afraid of her. I mean I must be, why else would I be having such a hard time? I mentally will myself to make conversation.

"Oh, okay. Well how about you? Do you have a little boyfriend of your own?" It's the only information she didn't mirror from my introduction and the only thing I can think of.

Her grin broadens into a full fledged smile as she leans her head onto her fist and regards me fully**. **"No. I'm more into kitties than cockles if you know what I mean." She winks at me and licks her lips. "That being said, I'm looking forward to our time together too, Ms. _Chapman. _

I walked right into that one... and I can feel my face burning as a result.

"Alex!" Healy snaps.

"What?!"

He gestures at me in a not so subtle manner, inclining his head. "Ix nay, on the ay gay."

"What?" Her face is the epitome of incredulity as her eyes narrow at him. "What the actual fuck was that?"

He does the head thing again in an even more exaggerated manner.

"You do realize that you still said the word 'gay' right. Also, you're a grown ass man." She turns to me again. "_Besides_, she would have found out on her own soon enough." Her tongue flicks out and she runs it over her bottom lip before biting it.

My eye twitches a bit as I look between the two who are now locked into a glare off, saying nothing.

My mouth is moving but I'm not saying anything. Fortunately, before I can a little timer goes off on Mr, Healy's desk cutting through the tension in the room. All of our eyes dart over to it as Healy slowly reaches over and turns it off.

"Welp." Alex picks up her bag and pushes her glasses up on her face. "I think this has been a really lively and informative session. Piper, it has been a pleasure meeting you, really." She lifts her eyebrows at me while peering at me from under her dark lashes with that awfully disconcerting smirk on her lips before shifting her attention.

"Healy, it's been nice knowing you. I'll miss your condescending attitude and your homophobic, misogynistic tendencies." She gestures between both of us. "I'm out."

And with that she steps out of the room leaving the both of us staring after her.

_Did she just call me Piper?_

I'm _so_ not ready for this. Fortunately, it seems like maybe she doesn't remember bumping into me...come to think of it, I _know_ I wasn't peering through her glasses when she looked into my eyes.

So maybe she is really blind and can't see without them. But that only makes this situation marginally better. And I mean a very small margin. Like, we're talking hairline fracture. Actually, scratch that, I don't want to be talking about fractures _at all._

"Mr. Healy."

"Hm?" He looks at me over the top of his glasses.

"Why isn't Mr. Caputo the one who has to work with Alex?" I try to level my voice to keep it from sounding quite so whiny, but I fail. And I don't care because this is _really _unfair.

"Well, the school board thinks it's good for our young women to get the choice to work with another young woman like yourself. Someone they can really relate to." He shrugs. "They gave the brats surveys a little while back and apparently they could put a little check mark for if they preferred a counselor of their own gender... I guess Vause marked it."

_Of course she did._

"Is there anything you can do?" My hands are clasped out in front of me as I plead with my eyes. I'm not ready, I swear I'm not.

His eyes narrow for a moment as he looks at me...long enough for me to be thoroughly creeped out...as I slink back into my chair. Then the corners of his lips turn up and he smiles.

"No."

I don't think I've ever frowned so hard in my life.

/

**[Neutral POV]**

Alex was practically beaming as she stepped back onto the pavement of the near empty parking lot.

No, she didn't have her favorite leather jacket. No, she wasn't going to graduate in May. Yes, her body was still sore. And yes, her messy ass life had gone to total and absolute shit at the moment. But she knew all of that when she walked into the school.

What she _didn't_ know was that she was going to get that delicious little blonde for a guidance counselor, and that was one hell of a ray of sunshine.

And she _was_ going to enjoy her time with her.

_Thoroughly._

...Which is to say that she was going to fuck her. More than once. And she was going to like it. A lot.

Just so we're clear.

**Alright, ladies and gents. That's the first chapter of Babylon. I hope it was alright, because I **_**really**_ **enjoyed writing it. I have a basic outline for this story all the way through the end, so you don't have to worry about me abandoning it (yay?) or leaving it for a year (probably). Which is good news if you liked it. And I hope you did. **

**So, feel free to drop a review in the review box or a message in the inbox if you want more of this story! I only want to give you people what you want! If you are like "the fuck is this, gimme more of that other thing" then that's what I'll do!**

**Speaking of which. This story has been the reason I have taken so long to update my other story, IANS, but** _**I am**_ **almost done with the next chapter and it will be up soon. **

**Also, maaajor shoutout to Fig-aruna for her help when this was still in the concept phase! **

**The next installment of this story will be more from Vause's angle, and **_**maybe**_ **we'll find out what happened that made her go coo coo bananas on that dude and why she gets to come back to school instead of going to prison.**

**Maybe.**

**See ya next time.**

**-Price**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi all. First off let me just say that I was absolutely floored with the amount of feedback I've gotten from this story. You guys are amaaazzing, and I feel obligated to make this story the best that it can be in return. I really can't say enough about how happy you all made me.**

**Also, I know I'm probably posting this a little later than expected (understatement of the year) and I **_**deeply **_**apologize. I was moving out of my house this past week and that along with stress from work has got me to the point I can hardly function.**

**That being said, even without the distractions, writing this chapter was a bit difficult. And by a bit I mean **_**really**_** difficult. And I know some of you who are actually taking the time to read this (those of you who aren't I do not blame you in the slightest) are probably thinking "But I thought you said you had figured out the plot already!" And yes, I have. But this story has come like **_**alive **_**to me which is a new and startling sensation and so pieces of it come to me in fragments and at any given moment the characters are in my head telling me things they might say, or as they usually do, telling me that what I have written is **_**not **_**what they would say. Furthermore, as one of you pointed out, I use both 1st and 3rd person POV's in this story which can be kind of confusing and I debated using both in this chapter for a while before deciding that this will most likely be the last chapter in which I use both. At any rate, this whole process has been kinda taxing. I actually want this story to have a pretty decent plot and I mean those of you who are enjoying IANS are probably like, "why is that a new thing" but when I say this is going to be the most intricate plot I've ever attempted to weave together, I mean it. Not because it's going to be especially thrilling necessarily (but then again maybe it will be), but because, quite frankly, I've always been a one-shot-porn-without-plot kind of fan fiction writer...up until I joined this fandom anyway so it's been a bit of a struggle. So while the fact that I do have an existing plot does ensure I won't ever **_**drop**_** the story it doesn't at all imply that I will go super fast with the updates.**

**Speaking of IANS I think that maybe you guys were expecting me to update that first and yes a chapter is in the works, but I've got a flow going with Babylon so I'd rather work on that while its still got a hold on me.**

**Also, I was going to split this chapter in two since it was **_**so**_** long, but this is really everything I wanted to cover in it (actually I wanted to do a bit more) and as a reward for your patience I think a +14k update is in order. Though, sorry to say, it may come off as a bit of a filler cuz I had a lot of shit I needed to set up. :/**

**And so, another even longer author's note later, I give you chapter 2.**

**[Neutral POV]**

Diane Vause quietly stared into the mug she held in her hands as she sat on her living room couch.

She took another sip of the Diet Coke swirling around in the cup in her hands, grimacing at the flavor. There had still been a little light out when she had poured it, but since then the sun had set and the drink had become flat, ice cubes now slivers that absently clink at the sides of the mug. Her eyes travel slowly up to the door for what must be the 50th time and she sighs, running a hand through her red hair before pulling it up into a pony tail and retying the robe she was wearing. She absentmindedly realizes that she must have catalogued every inch of the cozy yellow space she sits in, under the bright golden light of her lamp and ceiling fan.

The ticking of the clock on the other side of the room seems unreasonably loud and invasive as it thunders in her ears and resonates painfully in her chest, yet she chances another look at it.

_10:38._

The tired woman sighs again before her gaze makes it's way back to the door as she waits. And waits.

Suddenly struck by impulse, she leans forward as her fingers momentarily twitch over her cell phone where it sits on the coffee table before the device suddenly blinks to life, vibrating and trilling her nondescript ringtone.

A potent mix of relief and trepidation shot through her as she closed her eyes and snatched it up, not bothering to look at the screen.

"Hello?" Her eyes opened and she let out a deep breath, her lips curling into a hesitant but expectant half smile.

As the person spoke however her face fell and she put a hand on her forehead, then massaged her temple as she sat back in the chair.

"Yes, hello." A pause. "Yes, this is Ms. Vause." A pause. "Yes. Yes, I know I'm just-"

She nodded as the person spoke, her eyes blinking rapidly as she bent over, resting her free arm on her knee.

"Yeah, I got it. I will have it next week, I swear...huh?"

Her slippers flap across her linoleum floor as she crosses the room and snatches her purse off the kitchen counter, a mildly distressed look spreading over her face as she quickly thumbs through her wallet.

"Uh huh. No, really it's fine. I'll be able to pay it by then."

She sighs, fluttering her eyes closed as she snaps her wallet shut and tosses it back into her purse.

"I really appreciate your patience."

She nods and puts a hand on her hip.

"Thank you. Really. Okay. Okay, goodbye."

As the call ends she stares out of the window before the doorknob twists, jolting her out of her thoughts, and the door opens revealing her daughter Alex.

"Hey mom." The girl greets gently with a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Diane's hand flies up to her chest in relief as she smiles back, feeling breathless.

Their eyes meet briefly as Alex crosses over to her and plants a kiss on the side of her head before dropping a bag of groceries on the counter, and speeding up the stairs to her room.

Diane looks after her, reaching a hand in her direction before slowly drawing it back. Her gaze trails to the ground, hands on her hips again as she mutters a silent prayer.

Then, having gathered a bit of strength, she silently walks up the stairs breathing out deeply before knocking on the door to her daughter's room.

"Alex?"

There is a loud shuffling noise behind the door. "Yeah?"

Diane hesitates again, slouching over as she presses her face against the cold wood, searching for what to say. Then with a huff, she stands up straight and puts her hands on her hips.

"Could you come to the door please and look at your mother when she's talking to you? I haven't seen you all day, for Christ's sake." It occurred to her that she could have asked to come in the room with Alex, but...it was obvious how uneasy that made her daughter. For her to be in her room.

The shuffling noises resume for a moment before Alex finally emerges from behind the door with a somewhat lost expression on her face.

"Hey."

Diane crosses her arms and looks at her expectantly. "Hey? Really, Alex? Where the fuck have you been?"

"Nowhere special. With Nicky. And I stopped by the grocery store." The dark haired girl's face is blank as she regards her mother.

"It's almost 11 o clock, Alex."

"My curfew is 1 isn't it?"

"On the weekends, Alex."

"Oh."

"_Oh._" The shorter women intones sarcastically as she throws her hands up.

They look at each other for a moment, Alex staring blankly at her mother, her peripheral vision twitching toward the door to her room, Diane's face pensive as she gazes at her daughter, settling on the now slightly less purple bruise on her temple.

"Are you ever going to talk to me about what happened?" Her facial expression shows frustration but there is a deep, painful concern in her pale teal eyes.

Alex shifts uncomfortably from her left foot to her right as she flickers her gaze off to the side, cradling one arm. She knew this conversation had been building over the past couple of days and she was not at all excited about it, having actually gone out of her way to avoid it. "There's nothing else to talk about. Nicky's dad's lawyer friend helped me deal with all the legal bullshit and...we already knew I was gonna get held back so.."

"I still can't figure out why the hell I wasn't called in when all of this was taking place... Why no one is telling me anything! Especially you!" She finishes in a huff, waving her hand in Alex's face.

"Because I'm 18 mom! I'm not a fucking minor like last time so for the most part they deal with me like a goddamn adult. Which I am."

"An adult doesn't go out fine and fancy free on a Friday night and fucking whoop some kid's ass with a baseball bat and then not tell anyone why! And pretend like it didn't freakin happen!"

"I told someone, okay! I talked to the lawyer guy Mr. Whitman, he knows everything. And he is the only one who _needs _to know everything!"

"Oh, and that reminds me. You don't call your mother...you call Nicky! A child - not your own ma - to come and help you! I could've helped you! I would have gotten you a lawyer! I would've-

"With what money mom?!" Alex throws up her arms, finally shouting. "With what?" She mutters softly, running both hands through her hair, her arms then dropping limply to her sides.

Diane stares at her; hard, looking as though she's about to break.

"Shit. I-I didn't mean it like that-"

"Is that what it'd take to get you to actually have a real conversation with me for once? For me to make more money? Cuz I will get 5 more jobs if it'll get my little girl to talk to me like she used to, if I could still find the goddamn time to sit down and listen!"

Alex winces at the words.

"There have been so many times that I've felt like I don't even know you anymore... ever since..." Her eyes dart off to the side as her eyes begin to waver with tears. "I should've never let you go see your father."

"Mom..."

Diane frowns as she reaches out to touch her daughters face. "What happened Alex? You used to talk to me about everything..."

The girl leans into the contact and tries to smile at her mother but it turns into more of a grimace.

"I just don't want you to worry about things you don't need to be worried about. You've already got a lot on your plate, mom. But basically..." She pauses, drawing away from her mother and leaning against the doorframe. "Well for starters, I didn't call Nicky instead of you...I would have called you, okay? It's just that Nicky saw part of what happened and met me down at the station, having already spoken to her lawyer."

"I'll have to see if I can pay her back.." Alex internally rolls her eyes. "So are they pressing charges?" Diane's eyes are wide and searching as they look up at Alex.

"No, they're not." Alex's eyes drop momentarily before she looks back up at her mother. "It took forever, but the lawyer guy came through for me and we reached an agreement."

"Oh, thank God." Her mom exclaims breathlessly as she clasps her hands together and appears to look up at said being. "...But how?" Her hand crests and settles on Alex's shoulder.

"...I've got something on the Peterson kid that's keeping him and his parents at bay." The dark haired girl exhales heavily before continuing.

"They can't reasonably prove that the situation was my fault without exposing him too so they can't...well..._aren't_ charging me with aggravated assault. There are also a couple _other_ charges they want to bring against me but with the leverage I have and the lack of definitive proof they can't do anything about it." Her mother's face brightens considerably with hope. "_But_ his parents are big on the school board so they pressed the school to still punish me for it. And unfortunately, since I have such an eventful past, there was really no protesting that since obviously it could have been a lot worse. So between the principal and the guy handling this case, they all settled for giving me morning detention for the rest of the semester and having me meet with the new guidance counselor everyday...plus I have to help clean after school."

The wheels in Diane's head were turning quickly over Alex's words which was not unnoticed by her daughter who did not want this conversation to be any longer or in depth than it already was.

After a moment of wrestling with herself mentally, Alex looks up at her mother sheepishly and adds, "Also... in order to keep them from being able to easily use my past record in the event they _do_ decide to charge me with something, Mr. Whitman is looking to see if he can get the state to seal my juvenile records since _technically_ I haven't been convicted of anything in almost 3 years."

Diane's eyes begin to twinkle as she slowly starts to understand.

"Which would mean that I... I could get a fresh start. If I can keep out of trouble for the next couple years, that is."

Diane beams brightly before launching herself into her daughter, pulling her head down into the crook of her neck, patting her head and laughing breathlessly.

The lost expression graced Alex's face again as she tried to smile but found she could not.

**[Alex]**

I pretend like I don't see it.

How relieved my mom is when I finally come home and slip through the door, with some kind of peace offering in my hand. Like I don't feel the way her eyes burn into my back when she finds money she didn't make stuffed haphazardly into her wallet and scattered loosely in her purse.

Sometimes I wonder if maybe my mom would rather me just be here...to know where I am all the time than for me to be out there, working...I mean, who am I kidding...I _know_ she would...

And I know she's full of questions, and that her mind must be supplying any number of answers.

But ultimately, she doesn't find the courage to ask and I can't find the courage to tell her.

I enter my room and close the door behind me quietly, turning the lock before I step over to my bed and sit down. It creaks as it always does if I so much as breathe too hard, a noise I'm used to. My eyes unfocus as I stare at the wall; thinking. The entire surface of this side is covered in posters for bands and movies that I like, in lieu of me being able to paint the wall in case we have to move again. I hate that I can see the beige paint peeking through between the posters. It feels like a lie. Like the posters aren't there because I like them but because I'm desperately trying to cover up that wall, and make it mine. Make something in this world mine. Something that can't be taken away from me. But underneath them is still that same goddamn beige wall, and it'll still be there, long after I've rolled up my posters and put them in storage. Long after I'm gone.

I sigh as I feel my thought returning to my mother.

...I know my mom's heart breaks a little every time the phone rings. Just in case.

I've seen it on her face before, when she didn't know I was home. On Saturday, the morning after the incident on Friday...when I crept back into the house, I saw her she as picked up her phone and if I hadn't have known any better I'd have thought somebody had told her I was dead.

I know that she comes into my room at night because I unlock the door so she can. I make sure everything I want to hide is stuffed and locked away because I hear her poking around.

And lately, I feel the way that her fingers brush against my bruises when she thinks I'm asleep. I hear her sob as she leaves the room.

But I have to help her and this is the only way I know how. The best way.

This is what I'm good at.

My hand reaches into my front pocket and I pull out a little baggy of marijuana. I fish around in the pocket of my flannel shirt and pull out another little baggy of cocaine. I usually don't lace my weed with anything but...

Before I can talk myself out of it, I've rolled the blunt and am sealing it with my tongue. I can taste it. I can taste a whole new level of relief to compliment this hellish new pain. This awful spiraling darkness that's been whipping at my insides since... Friday. Which I refuse to think about and therefore adamantly refuse to talk about.

I shake the baggies in my hand gently.

After a shitshow of a family reunion when I finally got to meet the dad I had been lead to believe in all my life, I got the opportunity to make some money. _Good _money. _Easy _money. Sure, being a drug dealer is dangerous and illegal as hell but I figure, aside from his looks from his younger years, that was the best thing the asshole ever (indirectly) gave me.

I think that day, after I came home, was the last real conversation my mom and I had about how I feel. But then we didn't have much of a chance to talk after that because I was really busy and she was really busy. And then I was in juvie for a while. I can't help but shudder at the memory of the bleak detention center I'd been held at...and at the fear of going somewhere even worse. Sitting in that jail cell Friday night while I waited on Nicky and her lawyer to work something out was almost the worst part of that night. Almost.

I know that starting fresh...working and getting an 'honest wage'...wait, what is this 1885? Getting _a real job_ is what I shoulddo. But where has that gotten her? Us?

I don't know how long I've been sitting on my bed but with a loud lurch of the bed springs I am standing up, pulling off the first shirt then the second shirt. Then I'm out of my jeans and out of my underwear.

The blunt is still sitting on the edge of my bed so I pick it up and roll it between my fingers, staring at it; equal parts wanting to smoke it now and get the fuck out of my own head and wanting to throw it and everything else that has to do with it out of my window and burning it all to ashes.

Oh, right.

I stumble over my shoes before getting to my backpack near the head of my bed and producing my favorite lighter with the flip top.

The fire skims across the blunt, the final step to the sealing process, and then I set it down in an old jewelry box that used to hold one of the several studs I have in my ears.

Time for a shower.

I used to really enjoy showering before. It was kind of like an escape for me.

I have the feeling that soon I won't even be able to take them at all.

The faucet creaks as I turn the lever until it is almost touching the red H on one I'm out of the bathroom and sprawled across my bed again, reveling a bit in my nakedness as I snatch my phone up out of the front pocket of my backpack, and open up the music app.

As I stick it into the speakers, I consider starting the song over but I think I'll let it finish.

The song floats hauntingly into the bathroom, reverberating off the walls, following me into the shower.

_Do you really hate me?_

_Are you hating yourself?_

_...Crucify me._

_Crucify._

_Crucify me._

_Crucify._

The water is way too hot and it's burning my skin and my freshly healing cuts and bruises; my pale white skin is stained splotchy red. And I tell myself that that's why I'm crying. That that's the only reason. That that's why I'm hurting. That it has nothing to do with feeling scared and helpless in the rain a few days ago, kicking and screaming. I turn up the water to be a little hotter because I have to remind myself that it's not rain and that I'm no longer at the softball field and I'm not scared. I'm not.

_Was it worth it?_

_Would you do it again?_

_Aren't you tired of always making amends?_

I can still stop all of this. I can still get out of this whole business. Now's the perfect time right? Before it makes an even bigger wreck of my life.

_Oh, I bet you hate me now._

_I know you hate me now._

_Bring on the thorny crown._

_Crucify me._

Tomorrow will be the last time I sell drugs. I promise.

Tomorrow.

/

**A bright light shines into my face as I blink, trying to get my eyes to focus. **

**There is a single light fixture swinging, lighting up different parts of the dank, somewhat dirty looking **

**room I'm in. Against my back I feel steel bars pressing into my shoulder blades.**

**My eyes widen and I hear myself gasp; I'm back in fucking jail. Desperately scrambling around due to my hands being cuffed behind me, I turn so that I can see outside the cell.**

**But there's nothing outside of the bars. Just blackness. I can hear myself panting now, as I stare out into the nothingness. This isn't right.**

**And then suddenly I hear a ragged gasping that doesn't belong to me and slowly, ever so slowly, I turn around to see John Peterson's sickly smiling face, distorted by blood and gore.**

**I want to get up to run but I can't. My feet are now shackled together.**

**John slinks backwards into an even deeper blackness, but there is no time for relief, for his gnarled hand shoots out from the deep, taking hold of my shackled ankles and dragging me, slowly back with him, and with every tug, I scream. But no one comes, no one can save me this time. **

_**Worthless. Trash. Nobody at all. **_**His mouth doesn't move but I can hear him saying it. Whispering the poisonous words into my soul.**

_**You brought this on yourself. It's all your fault.**_

**I'm up to my neck in darkness and soon I'll be gone...**

"Vause?"

My eyes snap open as I sit up straight in my bed, causing the person who was shaking me to nearly fall off to the side.

"Shit. My bad!" I quickly extend my hand to grab their arm pulling them back only to see a slightly bewildered but happy Nicky Nichols looking back at me.

"Was that a sex dream?" I make a face at her thats probably 100% crazy looking and she shrugs. "...Just thought I'd ask."

My heart is still beating pretty fast and I can feel a thin sheen of sweat on my forehead as I put my hand over my face, trying to compose myself. I'm so sick of these goddamn dreams. I can't get any sleep. ...And I can still feel it pulling at me, like little black tendrils of darkness are still clawing at me, trying to pull me under. It occurs to me at that moment that I can almost feel Nichols staring at me so I peek back at her through my hand.

"Did my mom let you in?"

She shakes her head. "No. I rang the doorbell but no one answered."

Huh, she must still be asleep. I reach a hand out to pick up my glasses off the nightstand and look past her out the window where I can see that it's still moderately dark outside... the sky is just turning a hazy mid blue. Fuck, it's gotta be early. Suddenly the urge to yawn erupts from within me as if elicited by how ridiculously early it must be.

"Well it is the the fucking ass crack of dawn." I'm not sure if my voice is hoarse from sleep or from yelling but damn I sound like gravel in a blender. "Why are you here so early?"

"Well usually..." She shifts towards me, "we have Wake-and-Bake Wednesdays, right?"

I stare at her. "And it's Tuesday at.." I glance over at my phone dock. "...Wow, 4:07 in the morning actually."

She presses her hands together and inclines her head towards me. "Yes...good girl." She pats my head and I scowl at her. "But as you should remember, tomorrow I have that doctor's appointment so...I took the liberty to move our little meeting to today."

"Yes, okay and you showed up at four because?"

"Because now... you and I have to accommodate for that morning detention you got."

_Right._ I groan and lean over onto her shoulder. "I completely forgot about that."

"I know. And as usual, Nicky Nichols is here to keep you outta the frying pan."

"What about the fire?" I grumble into the nape of her neck as she pats my head again.

"That too."

Eventually, I somehow find the willpower to get out of the bed and throw on some clothes as Nicky watches from where she sits, grunting approval at some things and making a face at others. When I'm finally dressed I step into the bathroom and put on the usual swipes of eyeliner and a bit of mascara before stepping back into the room and snatching up my bag, not sparing much time to actually look at myself in the mirror because I don't know what to think about who I see staring back at me anymore. At any rate, I think the normalcy of the morning is starting to loose my dreams hold on me and I probably have Nicky to thank for that.

Speaking of Nicky, she is currently tapping at her phone as she lies back on my bed and I smile at how preppy she looks in her blazer, tie, polo, and plaid skirt combo. She opted for knee high socks today too and atop her head is a simple headband, her hair uncharacteristically falling into sleek waves.

"Why do you look like boarding school Barbie?"

She looks up from her phone for a second before looking back down at it with a smirk on her face.

Generally, Nicky wears a uniform since they are mandatory for Thornforest but with slacks instead of the skirt and her hair as well as her clothes are usually awesomely unkempt.

"I'm meeting Lorna's parents today." She says simply and I break into a wide smile.

"_Oh_."

She doesn't look up from her phone but she rolls her eyes. "I can literally hear your shit-eating grin over there, Vause. Wipe it off."

"You're so. Fucking. Whipped." I laugh as I turn away from her and shuffle in my top drawer for a pre-rolled blunt behind my bras. For a moment, my eyes catch on the jewelry box that sits on the top of the old wooden thing. "Have you even kissed her yet?"

"Shutup." She spouts but doesn't deny what she and I both know.

I smile absently but it falters as I continue to look at the coke laced blunt before quickly opening up the box and replacing it with a regular one, and placing the box in my bag.

"C'mon let's go."

I exit the room and the familiar creaking of my box springs lets me know that Nicky has gotten up behind me. After we jog down the stairs I shoo Nicky out the door before opening the door to my mom's room so I can kiss her goodbye. As the door swings open, I see that her bed's made and that she's not home.

Strange.

I stand there gawking at her empty room for a moment before closing the door back and walking outside. Since she wants to talk so much, tonight I'm going to ask my mom where she was this morning.

When I get to where my bike is, Nicky is already standing next to it.

I take the helmet off the handlebars and extend it toward her. Since I only have one, I figure it's common courtesy to let my passenger be the one to wear it.

She holds up a hand. "No thanks. Do you know how long it took me to get my hair to lay down?"

Wow. My eyes roll before I can stop them and I shake the helmet in front of her. "Well okay, Ms. Priss" Nicky slaps my shoulder at that. "What do you think is gonna happen to your hair when we're cruising at 60 miles per hour?"

She thinks about it for a split second before glaring at me with a rueful smile. "You think you're so fucking smart." Her hands shoot out and she snatches the helmet out of my hands. "Gimme that."

With a huff, she puts the helmet on and waits for me to sit down on my motorcycle before she plops behind me, her hands slipping behind my waist as I start the thing up, and throttle out of my driveway.

The trip down to our spot is beautiful, quiet and uneventful.. since there's really no easy way to hold a conversation whille you're riding on a motorcycle. And I am by no means a morning person but I can definitely appreciate the empty strreets and the way the sun seems to be just peeking over the horizon, bleaching the sky.

A couple years ago, while I was having a particularly shitty day, I happened upon this tiny lake thing, not very much bigger than a pond, surrounded almost entirely by trees. The area it's in is called Lakewood, but up until then I had never seen a lake. I guess it's all that's left. Ever since it's been the place I go to think. Nicky's the only person I've ever thought to bring here.

As expected, the place is relatively empty other than a few obnoxiously ambitious joggers and cyclists that pass around us, likely unaware that we're here.

Once Nicky and I get close to the water, I drop down to one knee and rifle in my bag before I offer the jewelry box to the red head who splays a hand over her chest, her face lighting up in playful surprise.

I open up the box, revealing the blunt and her smile turns into a grin filled with mischief. I can't help but to return her grin big and wide because I think that's my favorite look on her.

"Don't mind if I do." She wiggles her shoulder a bit and takes the box from me, placing it on the ground before sitting on my one raised thigh as I ease down into a sitting position, her in my lap, arms across my shoulders.

Her eyes crinkle as she smirks at me, before deftly popping the top off the box with one hand and then taking the joint between her fingers and placing it between her lips. I smile at the glint in her eyes as I light it, gazing at her from behind the little flame as it flickers between orange and blue, mirroring the sky as the sun slowly rises.

I hold it for her and she takes a deep hit before removing it as she leans into me, tilting her head. I open my mouth as we bring our lips together and shotgun the hit, one of my arms draping over her back as the other supports our position. Moments later, the transition is done, leaving her breathless as I lean my head back and let the smoke billow into the air out of my mouth and nose.

"Not quite what they mean when they say 'you may kiss the bride,' huh?"

My eyes roll but I smile at her. "It's 2014. Fuck tradition."

I know it wasn't a kiss and that it wasn't meant to be because it's not like that between us. Nicky and I have been friends ever since we both did a night in jail together a year or so ago and hit it off amazingly. I'd meant to just use her to traffic my drugs to the good side of town and, well I _do_ use her for that, but I also consider her my closest friend. Maybe my _only_ friend, really. She gets me and she's the only person I know who legitimately seems to like me _and_ doesn't want much of anything from me so why the hell not. I'd never have guessed that someone like her from the _good_ part of town with her trust fund and private education would turn out to be _anything_ to me but...I guess we just click.

"If anyone were to have a pot themed wedding it'd be us." I say handing her the joint.

She takes a hit and then puts a finger to her lips in thought. "We'd call it a _weed_-ding."

_Did she just?_

There is a beat of silence that passes before we both reluctantly burst into laughter, brows furrowed. As the moment passes she cringes as I look up at her incredulously, shaking my head.. "Sorry. That was the green talking."

"That was so fucking corny but I guess I'll let it slide, even though I doubt the weed has even hit you yet. But for the record, that was the stupidest thing you've ever said to me."

"Yeah, well, they can't all be gems." She bites her lip before continuing, "Speaking of gems..." she shakes a hand in front of my face, "Where's my engagement ring you fucking bum?"

_Challenge accepted. _I raise my eyebrows at her and purse my lips before snatching the joint from her and taking another hit, my eyes trained on her as I remove it, blowing 1 then 2 then 3, 4, 5 smokey rings into the air.

"There. That's a ring for every finger, baby. Cuz I'm a classy bitch and I like to spoil mine."

Nicky chuckles as she watches them float up into nothing before her eyes drop back down to my face. "No, you're a cheap bitch. But that was pretty fucking sexual so... it'll do."

"That so?"

My fingers lightly brush her thigh underneath the hem of her skirt before I flatten my hand over her soft skin.

Nichols' eyes drop to my thumb as it slightly presses into her thigh causing her eyebrow to quirk curiously as she regards me with a half smile. It's not a secret to Nicky that I'm attracted to her or that I know she is to me, but she's got her heart set on that pretty little thing named Lorna and I don't really feel the need to cross that boundary. We've kissed and fooled around before when we were drunk or strung out on ecstasy, but we've never gone all the way, and I don't think we will this morning. So I give her thigh a quick squeeze before I smack it and groan.

"Ugh. Get off me...you're so heavy, God."

She feigns offence before she leans to the side, rolling over onto the grass beside me with a scoff. "Well shit, I guess we're already out of the honeymoon phase."

"Eh. Marriage is overrated."

We sit for a bit longer, just enjoying the high as the wind whispers across the lake and through the trees.

"How you holdin' up?"

I cringe. Et tu, Nicki?

"Fine as long as I'm not thinking about it." I say as dismissively as possible.

"And how's that going?"

My lips press into a thin line. "Well I _was_ doing pretty damn good."

"And now?"

I turn to her feeling my frustration fizzling through the haze. Maybe it's the weed that's keeping her from seeing how agitated I am or telling her it's a good idea to keep asking. I run my hands through my hair as I look into her totally relaxed face. Shit. I guess it's hitting her harder than it is me. But maybe not, cuz before I can stop myself I start to share.

"Well. It's like my mind is a fortress. But there's always been this darkness trying to creep in. And now... it's stronger than ever... like it's beating a crack in the walls and I'm only one moment, one falter away, from drowning in it." I'm not sure how I got through that analogy in the state I'm currently in and I'm not really sure it made any sense.

"I see." The red head nods, tapping something into her cell phone before turning towards me. "I wish I had gotten to you sooner that day... I feel like it's my fault." Her face contorts in pain for a moment.

"It's not your fault." _It's my fault._

She nods slightly, but doesn't seem to fully accept it. "...Have you talked to your mom about it?"

I look at her with an exasperated expression and she raises her hands in mock surrender. "Yeesh, I just thought I'd ask. I feel like you should talk to _her_ at least."

I shake my head before flicking the little roach of a joint out of my hands and leaning back again as I blow out a series of smoky O's. "I told her a little bit about what happened with Whitman... she was really excited about the idea of me getting my record sealed and starting fresh."

Total sobriety flashes over her face as she turns towards me. "Are you really gonna do that?"

I can't meet her eyes, so I don't. "I'm not sure. I think I'm gonna tell Fahri that I want out today after school." Saying it out loud is _much_ different than just thinking it to myself in the shower and at the back of my mind, between the smoky haze and onset of darkness, a bit of anxiety starts to fester. I don't have any major ties to them yet so I should be able to get out pretty easily...right?

A moment of silence passes between us as Nicky seems to process what I've said before turning back towards the water.

"Fuck." She snorts before chuckling out, "You gonna talk to Healy about it?"

I tilt my head at her with a bored expression and she laughs loudly, causing me to smirk in response.

"Hell no." I shrug. "Besides, that saggy water sack quit or retired I don't know." A smile comes to my face as I remember what I have to look forward to today. "And he got replaced by this blonde chick."

One of Nicky's eyebrows raise as she turns to me with a mischievous smirk on her face and I smirk back. "Is she hot?"

I close my eyes and bite my lip, nodding, because _damn isn't she? _and Nicky punches me in the arm playfully with a giant grin on her face in response.

"What's she look like?" She's on her knees facing me now so I turn a little so that we're facing each other as I furrow my brows, thinking of how to describe her.

"Kind of like...Katy Perry with a little bit of that pretty guy who sings lead for 30 Seconds to Mars and played a trans chick in that movie...uh what's his name...Jared Leto?"

Nicky just stares at me blankly.

"...You'd have to see her to understand." I shrug before I get another thought and snap my fingers. "Okay, she looks exactly like that chick in that movie with Zac Efron in it? The Lucky One? That Morello made us go watch?"

Nicky's face screws up for a second before her face brightens in recognition. "Oh shit, I do know what you're talking about."

"Eh?" I waggle my brows.

"Meh, that's a little too skinny for my blood." And I roll my eyes.

"Lorna's like _this_ big around."

"And hella proportionate. Like you, just _way _shorter."

"...Alright, time to go."

Dusting myself off, I extend a hand to Nicky before pulling her up. We get back on my bike like before, and I drop her off at home so she can re-tame her hair before she heads to school. After thanking the powers that be that her parents weren't awake, I head to good ole Litchfield.

Hopefully, Mr. Houghton is in charge so I can sleep. Or I could do that math homework I forgot...or fuck that...I'm not gonna graduate whether I do it or not.

As I bump along the road towards the school, I can feel the anxiety growing again. Of course everyone's gonna know what I did and I'm actually counting on all the other kids being afraid of me so I can make it through today. What scares me the most is that someone might know what actually happened that night.

/

**[Neutral POV]**

"That's the last box right?" Piper asks as her fiancé kicks the door to her office closed before setting the box down on her desk.

"Yep. That's everything. I checked twice."

The blonde woman quickly looks around at the now somewhat sparse looking space and crosses her arms. Healy had removed all of his personal belongings from the office the day before, allowing Piper to decorate the office with her own things which she was quite excited about.

"Are you gonna stay and help me place everything?" She looked up at Darren expectantly.

He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I'm sure that'd go better if you just did it yourself. Remember what happened when we moved in together?"

Piper winced as she recalled how she'd nearly eaten Darren alive - and almost taken off his head with a figurine - for trying to propagate his horrible design aesthetic through their house. She loved the man but he had _terrible_taste.

"Besides, today's gonna be a big day at work so I should probably go in and get an early start so I can be home in time for dinner." His eyes rake over her before he continues, stepping toward her. "Or maybe I could be a little late for dinner and get a little something right now?" He says, grasping Piper around the waist, causing her to squeal before he silences her with his lips.

Piper breaks away first with wide eyes, pressing her hands onto his chest. "We _cannot _do that in here..."

He tilts his head and pulls her closer to him. "Have you seen yourself today? That whole sexy librarian thing you've got going on is kind of hard to ignore." His hand begins to slide down her lower back before Piper smacks his arm.

"Come _on, _P... you really expect me to leave you alone when you're just switching around in that pencil skirt? Not when I'm thinking about hoisting you onto your desk and fulfilling all my school boy fantasies!"

Piper rolls her eyes at him but smiles. "Really, Darren?"

"I'm only a man!"

"No."

"Ugh. Whatever." He pulls from her reluctantly but kisses her on the forehead. With a sigh he steps away from her and towards the door. "You better be wearing that when I get home." He says wagging a finger at her.

"Gross!"

"Piper!"

"_Darren._"

He frowns. "We'll talk about this later."

"No, we won't!" Piper grins. "Love you though!"

He grumbles as he finally steps out of the room and closes the door behind him.

Piper shakes her head at him before turning away from the door and rifling through the box on her desk.

She hangs her degrees, certification, and a few _tasteful _motivational posters on the wall behind her before beginning to pull out picture frames and placing them on her desk. Then she reaches into her other box and pulls out a few of her favorite items from her time in Martinique, including a mat that had belonged to her mentor, Miss Claudette. Her eyes sparkled as she ran her fingers over the fabric almost reverently before setting it down.

"I wonder how she's doing..." She spoke dreamily, as the sound of children's laughter and the older woman's smiling face projected itself into her mind.

**Knock knock**

Piper's head swivels over to the door.

"Yes?" She walked over to it and pulled it open, half expecting it to be Darren still trying to stick it in her.

"Good morning, Ms. Chapman."

Mr. Caputo stood in her doorway holding a mug in his hand, smiling, running a hand over the spindly hairs on his head.

"Oh...hi there Mr. Caputo, what can I do for you this morning?" The blonde woman asked pleasantly with just a touch of confusion as to what the man could possibly want.

"I just wanted to see if you were able to get settled into your office, or if you needed any help with anything." He looked over her shoulder. "I'm liking what you're doing with your space." He said nodding, a toothy grin forming on his face.

"Oh, um... Thank you. And no, I think I've got everything under control." She smiles faintly, placing a hand on her hip and leaning on the door, anxious to close it.

He nodded again, looking around the room as an awkward silence fell between them. Piper narrowed her eyes briefly before clearing her throat, bringing his attention back to her.

"Was there...anything else?"

"Oh! Oh, no." He took a sip of his coffee quickly. "I mean, since we'll be working together, I just wanted to get off on the right foot. You know, be friendly."

Piper smiled. "Well I appreciate it." She licks her lips and stifles the need to ask him why he is _still_ standing there before leaning in a bit more on the door which slowly begins to shut.

His foot catches it before it can get very far, though his expression doesn't change. "Do you want some coffee or anything?"

The blond woman regarded the man for a moment before answering. It was obvious that he thought she was attractive and while this was quite possibly the awkwardest conversation ever, he wasn't doing anything but being nice so, why not be nice back? Plus she could really use that coffee.

"Sure."

The two walked together through the quiet hallway leading to the teacher's lounge where a few other employees were drinking coffee and chatting. Piper grinned when she saw the Keurig sitting on the counter and quickly found her favorite flavor on the lazy susan sitting next to it.

It was hard to ignore Caputo's furtive glances at her as she waited for it to brew, but soon enough it was done and the taste of it alleviated _most _of her discomfort. She hummed happily and let her eyes flutter shut as she took another sip.

"Thank you Mr. Caputo."

The man shifted back and forth on his feet with a sheepish smile. "Call me Joe." Piper realized at that moment one of the last things she wanted was for he and her to be on a first name basis so she just smiled politely before walking around him back into the hallway.

The two walked back to where their offices were, the awkward silence back in full force as Piper sipped her coffee and tried to ignore it.

As they rounded the corner, Piper noticed an open door that a couple of students were shuffling into. Anxious for a conversation starter, she asked what she was thinking.

"Why are they here so early?" She questioned pointing over toward the door.

Mr. Caputo was already looking at her when she turned to him and blinked before turning toward the classroom.

"Oh, that's just the morning detention kids."

He walked over to where they could see into the open door and Piper followed hesitantly. A few sleepy and somewhat shady looking kids were sitting in the room, doing nothing. In the back corner was a familiar bespectacled girl, sleeping with her arms crossed and her feet kicked up on the desk next to her.

"You and I will have the great privilege of babysitting them every now and then, so remember where this classroom is."

Piper face fell at the words as her eyes continued resting on Alex as she slept.

Sensing her discomfort at the thought, Caputo hurriedly added with put on confidence, "But it's not so bad, I mean, the kids really seem to respect me so that might help but personally, I don't have a lot of trouble." When she doesn't immediately respond, he follows her line of sight and smiles.

"Worried about Vause?" He offers.

Piper immediately stiffened, facing the man as he regards her with a hand on his chin.

"She's not so bad. Seems to like to antagonize me, but it's just her way of handling authority. I'm not gonna lie, she is-" He stops abruptly before gesturing with his hand,"I mean I can see how _you_ might find her to be intimidating, but she generally just keeps to herself. When she actually manages to stay awake, that is."

"I'm more concerned about having to sit across from her every day during our sessions."

Caputo's face registers in surprise as he pushes his hands in his pockets, sending Piper a sidelong glance. "Well, I'm afraid I can't help you with that..." He watches her face carefully as he speaks, "...if you want, I could do your morning detention detail for you sometimes, if you want. You'd just have to ask."

Piper's expression immediately perks up. "Really? I mean you don't have to do that if you-"

He cuts her off with a wave of his hand. "I'd be happy to help while you get adjusted. Plus, if you'd want any advice on handling the kids we could-"

The first warning bell goes off, causing him to hold his second offer and stop staring down at her, for which Piper is quite grateful. He laughs somewhat nervously before pointing at her as he backs away.

"I wanna hear how the first day goes!"

It occurs to her that if Mr. Caputo was younger, not balding, and didn't have that awful mustache, that his behavior might be considered cute and endearing. But as it stood, it was just weird.

"Okay!" Piper attempts to smile but it's halfhearted at best as she points back at him awkwardly.

An even wider smile stretches underneath his mustache as he turns around, running into a student, before beelining for his office.

Piper peers after him incredulously before turning back to the classroom just in time to see Alex gazing at her with an almost imperceptible smirk.

Startled by being caught, the blonde woman smooths her hands down her skirt and clacks down the hallway toward her office as well.

/

"And that my friends is the essence of Mr. Karl Marx's manifesto. Any questions?"

Alex scans the room from where she sits in the back, silently daring some asshole kid to raise their hand. The man teaching them social studies, Mr. Tanevero, was the type of teacher that wouldn't stop teaching till the bell rang - something about fully utilizing their parent's tax dollars - and he'd hold them _after_ if anyone had a question so that everyone could have the benefit of hearing the answer. The day had been long enough already since she'd had to wake up at 4, and she had no desire for it to drag on any longer than it had. It was only 3rd period and she was beyond done.

Honestly though, Mr. T, as his students affectionately called him, was Alex's favorite because he was so beyond dealing with teenage bullshit that it made him kind of bad ass.

But that didn't stop the teens from bullshitting.

"All I'm hearing is that that Karl Marx guy was a poor asshole who hated rich people just because he wasn't rich."

Everyone's attention turned towards the front where Ashley Middleton, the daughter of one very rich man - who was also a member of the school board - was sitting, twirling her brown hair, looking snobbish.

Mr. T pursed his lips before giving a wry smile in response. "While I don't think that was a question, which is what I distinctly remember asking for, I do think that is an interesting perspective." The older man leaned against his desk, holding his glasses in his hand. "Anyone care to respond to that?"

Alex looked around at the other students who seemed to be too intimidated by Ashley's wealth and popularity to say anything before rolling her eyes and muttering her annoyance.

Mr. Tanevero's smile widened as he immediately pointed a finger at her.

"Yes, Ms. Vause?"

Alex frowned at him, not sure how he'd managed to hear her in the back of the classroom, and ran a hand through her hair before throwing a quick glance at Ashley who was already looking at her; fuming.

"I'm not really sure that even warranted a response..." She looked at Ashley again with obvious contempt before looking back at her teacher. "But I would like to point out that Karl Marx wasn't poor. He was actually pretty well off, and Ashley would know that if she read anything besides price tags and pregnancy tests."

The classroom erupted into a mix of gasps and laughter as Alex smirked and sat back in her chair, picking up a book. Ashley scoffed and whirled around in bewilderment before nudging the girl next to her who was frowning at her as she spoke animatedly. With a passive expression, the girl then turned to look at Alex, who was no longer paying them any attention, before slowly lifting her hand up.

"Settle down class, settle down." The short, greying man said as he tried to fight the smile forming on his own face, scanning the classroom for another raised hand.

"Ah!" He quirked an eyebrow and pointed. "Yes, Miss Wedge?"

Jessica Wedge had been at the forefront of Alex's major tormentors along with Ashley and a few other girls, some of whom had gone to Thornforest instead of Litchfield. Her dad was _actually _the richest man in the area, because his father had invented potato wedges and invested well in the stock market. It was unknown specifically why she hadn't attended TF instead of Litchfield but it was likely because her father was also on the school board and that she was the captain of both the volleyball and tennis teams - Litchfield being more renowned for sports than the latter. It was also unknown why she and her friends had specifically chosen to torment Alex amongst so many children, but that had been the way of things up until Alex had gone to juvie.

She'd garnered more respect from everyone after that as well as more self confidence, enabling her to start retaliating against the girls, though that didn't stop them from bothering her altogether.

The strawberry blond girl pulled a loose hair back behind her ear, feeling Alex's eyes burning into her back as she spoke up. "Didn't you say that we're supposed to respect other people's opinions without criticizing them personally when we engage in civil discourse?" Her brunette friend glanced at her briefly, noting her steady tone of voice, as opposed to the usual snapping or condescending tone it took when dealing with Vause before nodding in agreement.

Mr. T's eyes sparkled in amusement as he waved a hand at Ashley. "In that case, I'd need to penalize Ms. Middleton as well, since she insulted poor Mr. Marx who is too far under the ground now to defend himself."

"...Right."

Instead of pursuing the matter any further, Jessica simply pursed her lips and returned her attention to the book on her desk causing Ashley to look between her and the teacher incredulously. The angry brunette placed a heavy hand on Jessica who glared at her in response. Ashley's eyes narrowed at her, eyebrows meeting together as she then turned to level a glare of her own at Alex who was simply smirking down at the book in her hands.

The bell rang at that moment, causing everyone to get up and head for the door. Alex, being in the back, had to wait for some other kids to shuffle out before she could go and so continued reading in her book for a moment.

"Alex."

She looked up at her teacher who was writing something down on his podium.

"Good job today. A little crude, but it's always fun when you participate." He didn't look at her as he said it, but she knew that coming from him it was sincere.

"Thank you, Mr. Tanevero. I'll be here all week." She smiled wryly and stood up to leave.

He looked up this time, peering at her over his glasses.

"Let's keep it that way."

Alex nodded slightly in acknowledgement before adjusting her backpack on her shoulder and walking out into the hallway towards her locker in order to change out her books.

As she closed the door, she found herself looking at Ashley M. and Jessica who was, uncharacteristically, behind her.

"Pigsty." She spat.

"What's up?" The black haired girl asked sardonically.

"How dare you try to humiliate me after what you did?"

Alex's eyebrows raised. This wasn't what she was expecting. Friday had nothing to do with her and if anything, it should have discouraged her from confronting her face to face. "The fuck does that have to do with you? Don't you think you might have a little too much school spirit?

She crossed her arms, her face growing redder and redder with anger. "Don't act like you don't know."

Alex balked at her. "Know what?"

Ashley face turned red and she looked about ready to hit the taller girl but settled for slapping the locker next to her.

"John Peterson, the guy you tried to _murder_? He's my boyfriend."

Alex's face stretched in surprise before dissolving into a humorless smile. "Oh. I didn't know. My bad."

"How the hell are you even allowed to show your face here?"

"You clearly have no idea what happened that night."

The girl chuckled haughtily as she stepped closer, her hands on her hips. "Oh, but don't we?" She looks back toward her friend who nods slightly but maintains a blank expression as she watches Alex intently. The dark haired girl simply blinks and raises her eyebrows in amusement, but her hand grips tightly around the strap of her backpack.

"Do you?"

Ashley set her jaw and narrowed her eyes.

"Rumor has it that you tried to sell JP drugs and he turned you down and threatened to rat your ass out so you tried to kill him while he had his back to you."

A crooked smile spread across Alex's face as she looked away from the girl in order to stuff her books into her bag.

"Sounds good to me." She smirked as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder.

Ashley visibly snapped and walked up so that she was pointing her finger directly into Alex's face.

"I'm going to have you thrown right back into prison like the piece of shit that you are." She sneered in an attempt at a menacing tone. The taller of the two met her gaze with equal intensity as her voice dipped as well.

"Piss off, Ashley." She growled out, noticing that their little talk was beginning to draw a bit of attention.

"Or what?" The brunette leaned back to cross her arms. " You gonna eat me...you big dyking Sasquatch?"

Another humorless smile crossed the dark haired girls face as she leaned over towards the girl, propping a hand against the locker to support herself. "As much as us big dyking Sasquatches like to eat little whiny things, I'm sorry to say that you're not my type." Her predatory gaze slowly travels to Jessica. "And I _do _have a type."

The strawberry blonde girl stiffens before crossing her arms and quickly looking away.

"But if you don't get out of my face I swear to God...I'm going to cunt punt you so hard, you'll be able to taste _yourself_." Alex breathed into the girl's ear, her voice menacingly husky, causing Ashley to shudder. Noting this she smirks as she bumps the girl to the side, throwing one more look behind her at Jessica.

/

Piper is standing in her office, once again scanning over her handiwork with a smile, her teeth gnawing at her bottom lip. Her pleasure at having successfully redecorated the office is countered by an increasing level of nervousness at the sound of her heart as it thuds slowly; her chest feeling like it's been cleared out with a hair dryer on high heat.

She has to physically restrain herself from looking at the clock on the wall or pressing the button on her phone so that she can see what time it is. She knows exactly what time it is and for the first time in her life, checking the time doesn't seem to be making it go any slower. Anxiety builds in throbbing waves of anticipation as she stands there, trying to think about anything to keep her calm. But she fails, and ultimately decides that maybe it would be best if she just stayed on high alert, maybe she'd be more prepared.

Finally she casts a quick glance at the clock, too quick for an analog clock. It's 12:40 ish and at 12 45, her _favorite _student is going to come bumbling in...sending those unnervingly pointed looks at her from beneath glasses and hooded lids. And somehow, she is supposed to get that girl to open up which is going to be a struggle since, when under the scrutiny of those eyes, she is the one that feels like she needs to be admitting something. Or saying something.

With a deep breath, Piper smooths her hair back ensuring that it's still neatly held in a bun before sliding into her chair. She's been through 3 students already and it was almost like they weren't even people compared to Alex. She had been a little nervous but they had taken to her quickly, and it was evident that she had done a satisfying job and that they would be back. Nothing like how it would be with Alex. She was the ultimate test of her proficiency at this job it seemed and she still had of yet to receive a study guide.

The clock now reads 12:46.

She blinks. Alex is late. It occurs to her that maybe she won't come at all and she can feel the tension hesitantly easing out of her muscles, out of her mind.

The timer is in her hands now, and she winds it back to 50 minutes, but then as an afterthought brings it down to 42. And waits.

She picks up her phone and replies to a couple of texts and an email before turning to the computer on her desk and moving the mouse, allowing the screen to blink back on. There's nothing school official enough she wants to do, and she doesn't want to get in trouble so she slides back from the computer and picks her phone back up.

12:51.

There's undoubtedly a protocol for reporting students that don't show up for their mandatory and possibly required-by-law classes but Piper is sipping from out of a diet coke can with her legs crossed underneath the desk and she can't bring herself to pick up the office phone, and she doesn't feel the least bit guilty.

12:57

Alex isn't supposed to miss a single session. It's a violation of something and Piper's not entirely sure if she is being held accountable by the school or by the state but she's now frowning at the time. What if something bad has happened to her? Piper's face contorts into one of amusement.

_As if something could happen to her. She's the one of the most intimidating people you've met..and if her reputation precedes her..who would be dumb enough to cross that line?_

It's not as reassuring as she wanted it to be. Part of her brain shouts at her to take responsibility and call it in. That Alex is actually a person and not a force of nature and that she _could_ be in trouble.

1:00

Slowly, Piper's hand alights upon the black plastic of the office phone which she brings to her ear, waiting for the dial tone. Then in a rush of willpower, her fingers are dancing across the numbers.

"Hello." A pause. "Yes, this is Piper Chapman, the guidance counselor." A pause. "Uh huh. No I don't think we've met yet, I just started today." A pause. Piper smiles good naturedly into the receiver and laughs. "Great. Great to meet you too, Ms. Fischer. Glad to know I'm not the only young one." A pause. "Oh, right I'm calling because one of my stu-"

And the door is shouldered open by Alex Vause who snaps her head back, long black hair whipping up before settling behind her. Piper just gapes at her. She's leaning in the doorway, wearing a plaid flannel shirt over a mostly black tshirt for a band Piper's never heard of. The shirt doesn't quite make it to the waistband of the jeans though, hipbones and a smidgen of belly button peaks out from under it before they're snuffed out by a black belt and dark blue jeans, tucked into a pair of black combat boots.

Piper's eyes rake over her because that _really_ can't be acceptable for the dress code in some way or another. To look so... obviously..._defiant._

_"Hello?"_

Oh, shit. Piper's eyes widen as she slowly begins to speak again. Alex is just standing there with a passive look on her face waiting for her to continue.

"One of my students was late and I was going to call it in but.." Alex's eyebrows raise and she slightly inclines her head. "I think they just had a little trouble finding my office. Everything is fine."

The dark haired girl is smirking now as she saunters over to the chair in front of Piper's desk, plopping down into it.

"Uh huh. Yeah we'll definitely have to meet up sometime." Green eyes bore into hers momentarily before Alex pulls out her phone and taps away a message.

"Alright. Bye." Piper sets down the phone tentatively and clears her throat.

**[Alex]**

"Hello again Alex." She begins hesitantly. "...do you have a written excuse for being late?"

I look at the blonde woman for a moment before returning my attention to my phone. "_No_. Obviously, I had trouble finding the office." I feel myself smirking as I look back up at her.

"Right." She shifts uncomfortably in her chair as she continues to look at me. I thought she would've laughed at that. Someone's uptight. Needs loosening up. And I'd be happy to.

"Well, what were you doing?" My gaze travels up to meet hers slowly and I finally snap the phone closed and slide it into my pocket.

"Selling a couple grams of Mary to the electrical guy." I explain in a dismissive tone. Her facial expression is priceless. And that really was what I was doing. I was actually going to try and be on time for this and make a good impression since one day in the near future I'm going to bend her over that desk but fucking Luschek didn't have the exact amount of money so we had to work out a deal. It's my last sell day after all. I'll have plenty of time to fuck with Ms. Chapman after this. In every sense of the word. I'm smiling at her brightly and after a moment she smiles back at me albeit faintly and she shakes her head.

"Fine, okay. Don't tell me what you were doing." I'm almost surprised she wasn't fully inclined to believe what I just told her, but maybe she's not as uptight as she seems.

A moment passes between us in silence as she chews her bottom lip. _That's_ really cute.

"So," she starts slowly, pulling a stray strand of hair out of her face as she leans over, shuffling in her desk drawer for something. She produces a laminated piece of paper with a myriad of cartoon facial expressions and words. I squint at it as she slides it across the desk towards me.

"This is the feelings check-in sheet." She says it and finally levels her gaze with mine.

I eyeball it with a raised eyebrow and I guess it prompts her to respond.

"I can tell this isn't really your kind of thing but it can be kind of helpful."

Wow. I feel a smile growing on my face before I can kill it. "I know what it is." My eyes flick upward at her. "I'm not knocking it, it's just been a while since I've seen one."

Her face registers confusion. _Adorable. _"Aren't they... aren't we supposed to do this everyday?"

"I wouldn't know." I guess no one else had thought it was important enough to do so often.

Her brows furrow as she looks at me.

"Is that what they taught you in _college_?" I say teasingly lifting my brows and leaning towards her a bit.

"Well, yeah."

I'm really trying not to roll my eyes at her but _Jesus_... can't she calm the hell down. I don't want her to be comfortable with me per se but at least Healy would give me a little fire. She's just giving me fish out of water.

"Are you scared of me?" I tilt my head at her and put my face in my palm. Might as well get this out of the way.

"Yes." She utters, plain as day and her face goes blank for a second before I can see a blush tickling her cheeks and I'm this close to walking behind that desk to see if I can't get that blush any darker. But I shrug instead.

"Don't be." And those words are out before I approve them. I kind of like her being afraid of me, and as a rule, I do everything in my power to keep people like her off balance. But I have this weird feeling, and I guess it's because I've never wanted to fuck someone quite so much so soon and it's keeping me from giving her a hard time. "I'm assuming it's cuz of the whole baseball bat thing." I gesture loosely with my hand.

She nods slowly.

"Believe it or not but...violent crime," I screw up my face before shaking my head, "Isn't really my thing." I lean back in my chair before tacking on "Unless I'm provoked." as an afterthought to keep her at least a _little_ afraid.

She seems to understand this because she nods and taps the sheet again and says:

"So...assuming we are scratching violent off the list, how _are_ you feeling today?"

I smirk. She assumes correctly. "Good."

"Use a word on the sheet."

I briefly entertain the thought of saying the word 'name' or 'date' but settle on..."Engaged." I say lowly as I clasp my hands together and look deeply into her eyes.

Her jaw works for a moment before she lifts her left hand. "Huh. Me too." She grins. I don't know if she is ignoring the subtext there or what but at least she's playing along now.

I note the ring on her finger and smirk.

"Oh, yeah! Your fiancé... Derrick?"

"Darren."

"Right. So... what's he look like?"

"Oh. He's tall with dark hair...and a great smile..." I don't try to hide my excitement at finding out that I'm her type. Yes, that is all I got out of that.

"I have a picture! Want to see?" She doesn't wait for me to answer before picking up a picture frame and turning it towards me.

My eyes narrow as I focus on it. They're laughing and holding onto each other. It might as well have been the stock photo that came in the frame in the first place. How amazingly blasé. However..

"You look hot." I observe aloud and she blushes again before immediately pulling the photo back like I'll set it on fire.

"...Thank you." She grins a little, pulling a loose hair behind her ear.

"You're welcome."

As she places the frame back down on the desk I notice an interesting looking mat sitting under her things.

"Where'd you get this?" I tug on it a bit where it peaks over onto my side of her desk.

"Martinique...I volunteered at a school there for a while after I graduated." Her eyes take on a far away look. "Ms. Claudette, the lady that helped me with the kids I was teaching, gave it to me."

Hm, I would have thought she'd have bought it from Michael's or some hippie craft store. That's actually really cool. Like _really_ cool.

"So...vous parlez français?"

She blinks at me before smiling brightly, surprise evident on her face. Gotcha. "Oui, Parce que Martinique est une pays de langue français. Et vous?"

"Je sais et parce que un jour, je vais aller en France avec mon mère." I cross my hands behind my head. "C'est mon rêve... Or one of them anyway." It's true. It's my dream to go to France with my mom one day. And contrary to popular belief, I'm not incapable of learning or lazy, I just learn what I _want_ to learn. And if I'm going to France I better know how to parlay.

And as expected she looks pleasantly surprised. We just smile at each other for a moment.

"Aren't you full of surprises?"

I just keep smiling like an idiot. Even I'm entitled to enjoy a compliment. And yes, that was definitely a compliment. "I could say the same about you. That whole Martinique thing is really cool. You'll have to tell me more about it sometime."

She rests her face in her hand, still looking at me. "You seem to have more than one side to you Ms. Vause." Her eyes are twinkling and it's giving me this weird feeling.

"Just depends on who I'm dealing with."

She nods again but she seems to be thinking over what she's about to say.

"So then... John Peterson..."

I feel my back stiffen. This is not where I wanted this conversation to go. At all. That feeling from Friday seems to acknowledge her question and is slowly uncoiling in my chest and suddenly I don't remember how to breathe. I look into her eyes and I'm not sure what I see there. It's not just curiosity. It's a very strange slew of emotions behind them and its making me uncomfortable. I grip the sides of the leather chair.

"What about him?" I can feel the darkness that I've tried to keep at bay all day starting to lick at my psyche, creeping in from the edge of my consciousness.

**[Piper]**

I didn't expect to her to seem so... nice today. Sure, she's just as unsettling as she was yesterday but she's being really nice..almost pleasant now. And I mean she's coming on a little strong with the lesbian thing but I'll admit it's like a special kind of flattering. I watch her as she watches me and it's hard for me to ask the next question. I didn't mean to ask the first one, it just slipped out. But I can almost see the nice Alex that speaks french and told me not to be afraid of her slipping away as her eyes become hard and dark. I don't have a natural skill at reading people, but my years at school have taught me plenty. I'm seeing something here, underneath the smirks and the intense eye contact. But more than anything at this present moment, I'm noticing how absolutely gorgeous this kid is, which I guess is part of why her blatant flirting doesn't bother me. Well I mean it _does_. But not in an I don't like it kind of way. Just an I'm not used to it kind of way. Should it bother me more than that? Should I say something... about that?

But really. Like, I am literally just running my eyes over her features trying to absorb how good looking she is. This is the first time I've been able to _really _look at her. It's uncanny almost how attractive she is. I've always been able to appreciate pretty people, and I don't think it's odd for me to think that she's as pretty as she is because..._well_... she _is. _The Alex that makes me feel so small doesn't really need a compliment...but _this_ one, she does I think. And I want her to hear it before she disappears. And I have a strong feeling that she will.

"I'm sorry." She inclines her head at me with one eyebrow raised. I hear myself as if I'm listening from far away. "It's just, you're a really pretty young woman. It's striking."

That hard look in her eyes falters and she peers at me as I smile at her genuinely. I guess now is as good a time to ask as any.

"...What did Peterson do that made you deal with him that way?" I lean towards her on my desk, clasping my hands together, hoping she doesn't run away.

Her lips part as if she's about to say something but then her eyes meet the floor before looking back up into mine, hard again.

"Would you believe me if I said it was because he asked too many questions?" She's leaning forward now too, her glasses pushed to the top of her head. So we're back to that. But I know what I saw in there, inside of her. That look on her face. I wasn't imagining it.

I can feel myself frowning at her. "No. I don't."

She looks a bit agitated now. "Well." She starts dismissively but drops her voice into a slightly menacing octave. "Believe it."

_Okay. _I'm trying to master myself but the fear is coiling up again because it's beginning to seem as if I am provoking her and I know what that means. I had been attempting to hold eye contact with her but now that's becoming damn near impossible. She's the one trying to initiate it now and I can feel myself crumbling under the intensity of her gaze.

"Alex." Her name is still a foreign taste in my mouth so I swallow and try again. "Alex, you can tell me anything. I know it's hard but whatever happened with him obviously really bothers you and I understand-"

"_You_...understand?" Her expression is almost totally unreadable and I don't know what to do aside from nod.

"Well I mean, I understand that you don't want to open up or talk about it...I know I can't possibly understand what happened because you won't tell me."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"So you're just gonna let it eat you up inside?"

"Nothing is 'eating me up inside' so just drop it, okay?"

I know I should do what she says, but I feel like I'm so close to getting her to say something and maybe all she needs is a little push. I've never pressed so hard with a person before, but Alex isn't like any of the other kids I've dealt with in my admittedly limited experience.

"But I can tell that you need help!"

"I need _help_?" Her eyebrows raise at me in challenge.

This is becoming _beyond_ frustrating! I can feel my temper flaring up but this is infuriating! What does she mean '_does_ she need' help?!

"_Clearly_, a kid who has been in jail and doesn't think twice before she _cripples_ another person needs help!" I say it pleadingly, but I can already see the offense in her eyes which darken considerably as she falls back in her chair abruptly, almost as if I had gotten up and literally pushed her.

A moment of thick palpable silence passes between us as she stares at me, and I know that things are about to go sour.

"God, look at you. You really think you know something about me." The corner of her lip quirks up into a dry smirk devoid of humor, as if she is bored and tired of trying to entertain herself. "Do you think that just because I was nice to you for like .05 seconds that you and I are buddy buddy? You don't know me, _Piper_. Sure maybe you've read my file...but you don't know _me_ at all. If you'd take a look at something _other_ than my juvenile record or the report from last Friday you'd know that I have been coming to this office for longer than you've had your degree and not one of you so called counselors has come close. So, I don't know what it is that makes you feel like you'll be any different. I'm sure things have always come easy to you, right? Maybe its because you have that pretty smile and that tight little ass. Maybe it's because your daddy has always made everything you want in life happen for you. Maybe it's both. Just understand that that won't work with _me_."

I feel a little hurt now because I let myself see something behind her eyes. A lie, I guess. I've been told I was naive before, and I guess that's true. But mostly I'm just angry at her for being so effortlessly cruel. I'm trying to remind myself that I'm the adult here and that I hold the power as my eyes stare down onto the desk, my jaw tight.

"Why...are you being so...such a..." I utter, my voice tight with strain, still unable to lift my head to meet her mocking gaze.

"A bitch?" She finishes for me before smirking, whole heartedly this time. "Why does that surprise you?" Her eyes bore into mine, and once again I see something flash behind them. Does she really want me to answer that?

I look up at her and narrow my eyes at her about to say something when she starts speaking again.

"Tell you what, since I like you, I'll take it a little easier on you and make you a deal, okay?" She waits for me to respond but I can't find any g-rated words so I just stare.

She leans forward again. "_I'll_ reveal something about myself if _you_ reveal something to me."

I'm almost snapped out of my anger as I angle my head at her in confusion. If that's all it will take...

"That's it? I just share stuff about my life with you and then you'll share with me?"

She blinks before laughing again and it's a sound I'm growing to hate. "Oh, no that's not what I meant at all." Suddenly she's standing, both her hands flat on my desk as she brings her face close to mine. "What I meant was that if you _show_ me something," and her eyes flick down to my chest, "I'll _tell_ you something."

I can feel that my face has turned a very dark shade of red as she smiles evilly down at me, drawing closer still, and I'm sputtering, trying to think of a coherent response when abruptly the timer rings out. Alex slips away from the desk slowly, like a panther that had eaten her full, her dark gaze never leaving mine until she picks up her bag and slides her glasses back down on her face.

"No!" I finally manage as the fog in my head clears. What a _brilliant_ and _well-timed_ response.

"Then I guess it's not all that important to you." She says with with in a mockingly sad tone before she breaks into a sly smile, raising her hands .

And then she's out the door again, leaving me staring after her back, dumbfounded.

I fucked up so bad.

Is there any way I can possibly regain control of this situation? She's had it ever since she stepped in here...apparently ever since she _first _stepped in here forever ago.

Maybe I'm not cut out for this.

I pick up the phone and run a hand through my hair in frustration, scrolling down until I see the number.

It rings twice.

"Hello? Mr. Healy?"

/

**[Neutral POV]**

It's after school and Alex is in coveralls, sweeping the floor absently, reflecting on her very taxing day. She wipes her forehead and sighs deeply. She didn't realize just how much floor there was and how filthy teenagers were but that wasn't really what had her so frustrated. Earlier, she hadn't exactly been in control with Piper and it bothered her. The woman had even said she was pretty and she had still lashed out at her...and had said a lot of things she hadn't meant to say. The scariest part was that she wasn't sure what was what. Why had she reacted that way? Why was everything getting so fucking weird? Something in her life needed to be easy, and Friday seemed to be making _everything_ complicated as much as she wanted to ignore it. It'd be so much easier to disappear...

As she takes the broom back to the janitors closet, still lost in her thoughts, she hears quiet footsteps approaching her, causing her to look up from the lock that she's now trying to jiggle open.

Jessica Wedge is standing there in her tennis uniform staring at her with an unreadable expression. Alex regards her with an equally vague expression, turning to her slowly. After a moment she returns her attention to the doorknob, finally yanking the door open and giving Jessica a sidelong glance. The shorter girl stuffs her tennis racket into her duffel bag and appears to be on the verge of saying something. Alex simply raises her eyebrows at her, and instead of speaking, Jessica quietly steps into the closet with a furtive look on her face. The dark haired girl watches her step in and then looks both ways down the hallway. A lascivious smirk spreads across her face as she pulls her glasses back to the top of her head and steps into the closet with her before slowly shutting the door.

Finally. Something easy.

**Well, there's that. **

**Was it what you were expecting? Did you love it? Hate it? Was it too long?**

**It's gonna start a little slow but I promise it'll be worth it so please. Tell me how you feel. I'm all ears.**

**I'll try to have the next chapter done next week!**


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